


your smile is like expelliarmus (simple, but disarming)

by psychopass



Series: Hogwarts AU [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Hogwarts AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-30 14:39:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3940588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychopass/pseuds/psychopass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Aomine and Kise receive more detentions then they have time to attend, Kuroko has a <i>slight</i> crush on a redhead Slytherin, and said redhead Slytherin has a <i>slight</i> crush on a certain blue haired Hufflepuff, Murasakibara finds that he wants to crush Himuro less than other people and everyone thinks Midorima and Takao are dating (spoiler: they're not, but Takao's working on that). Kagami just wants to play Quidditch, so why does he keep getting dragged into these things?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this chapter is for you gemma since you put up with my constant spamming of hogwarts au headcanons :') aND LOOK I FINALLY WROTE AND POSTED IT
> 
> disclaimer: a super self indulgent fic and if at anytime, you think the author has no idea what they're doing, you are probably absolutely right.

"Aomine Daiki and Kise Ryouta," Professor Aida, leers, slamming his hand down on the desk, the two fifth year boys glaring at each other. "Are you aware of how many times you've been in detention?"

"I've lost count sir," Aomine answers automatically. "It wouldn't happen so often if this bastard over here-" he says, jerking his thumb towards Kise, "wasn't always looking to pick a fight."

"You turned my desk into a damn pig!" Kise shouts angrily, throwing his hands into the air in frustration. "You were asking for it!"

"Your stuff was moving into my personal space-"

"Oh, so the great Gryffindor Aomine Daiki can't handle a single parchment too near his desk?" Kise sneers, curling his lip.

"It was only fitting to transfigure something, seeing as this whole class is Transfiguration! Damn Slytherin, I'll wring your neck-" Aomine snarls, moving towards Kise and Aida slams his hand down on his desk again.

"Stop! Detention for both of you, this evening at 7:00 pm. Next time I'll make it so that you miss your Quidditch matches!"

"You wouldn't," Aomine says, horrified, stepping away from Kise. "Professor, you're the head of Gryffindor and I'm the best Chaser, you aren't-"

"I would," Aida says grimly. "Now get out of my classroom and behave!"

"Why can't you just fucking shove off," Kise mutters, walking out of the classroom, Aomine following him.

"Why can't you?" Aomine retorts and Kise plunges his hand into his robes and pulls out his wand, pointing it at Aomine's face, his lip curled in disdain. "You're asking for it," Kise warns and Aomine eyes the wand that's pointed at the spot between his eyes in amusement. A few students passing by watch with wide eyes and shuffle along hesitantly, nudging their friends, some ducking for cover and others breaking into a light jog to escape the scene, already aware of the events that would unfold next.

"Bring it on, pretty boy. I've already got detention, nothing's stopping me from hexing your blonde hair purple-"

Before either of them can utter a single spell however, someone grabs Aomine's arm and pulls him roughly to the side, someone doing the same to Kise, separating the two from the same line of fire.

"No magic in the halls!" a girl with pink hair scolds, snatching Aomine's wand from his grasp, a shiny Prefect's badge glinting on the front of her Ravenclaw robes. To the side, a few students sigh in obvious relief at the intervention.

"You are aware of the consequences if you were the miss the Quidditch match, aren't you, Ryouta? I will not have Slytherin losing the match because you could not control yourself around Daiki," a boy with red hair says coldly, the same Prefect's badge glinting on his Slytherin robes. A few girls giggle in the background and point at the eye catching Slytherin pair.

"Damn it, Satsuki! He was asking for it, you never used to be this nit picky about rules!" Aomine grumbles, reaching for his wand, but to no avail. Momoi whips it out of his reach despite him being a whole head taller than her and brandishes her own wand menacingly. "Obviously you had to be made bloody Prefect," Aomine snorts, rolling his eyes, although he eyes Momoi's wand with apprehension. 

"Right, Akashicchi," Kise replies stiffly, clenching his jaw as he pockets his wand under Akashi's gaze. "But Aomine was provoking me-"

"You can get him back at the Quidditch match," Akashi says flatly, turning around and starting to walk away. No voiced threats are needed for everyone to know the storm that would be coming if Kise was to land himself in more trouble before the match. "Are you coming, Satsuki?"

"Of course," Momoi replies brightly, tossing Aomine's wand back to him. "Behave or I'll hex both of you so that you never have to hex each other again!"

"How the fuck are you and Akashi even friends," Aomine says under his breath, pocketing his wand. "The two of you are the most terrifying Prefect pair, did you know that?"

"He appreciates me," Momoi says, sticking out her tongue, catching up to Akashi and linking an arm through his. Aomine shakes his head at their retreating forms and shoots a glare at Kise, but doesn't dare to do anything else as he's sure Momoi would be more than willing to carry out her threat. Instead, he opts for flipping Kise off and sticking his tongue out childishly at him before walking away. He strolls down the hall and saunters down the stairs, to the Great Hall, searching for Kagami and Kuroko. When he enters the hall, he spots them sitting at the Gryffindor table, poring over their homework. He comes over, dropping his book bag on the table and listening to the satisfyingly large 'thunk'; Kagami and Kuroko jump up in surprise at the noise and give him a disapproving scowl. He plops down next to Kuroko and swings an arm around Kuroko's shoulder, snatching away the parchment he was working on.

"Transfiguration, huh? This is easy, Vanished objects go into nonbeing. I think. Just came from there. Aida yelled at me lots, again, though that's no surprise. Got detention. Nearly fought Kise again before Satsuki and Kuroko's crush came over and stopped us. Not allowed to hex Kise unless I want my arms severed off. I'm starving, got any food?" Aomine says casually.

"Nobody asked for your life story, Aho," Kagami sighs. "And you'll just have to wait for dinner unless you want to get in even more trouble for sneaking down to the kitchens."

"He's not my crush," is the only thing Kuroko says as he snatches the parchment back from Aomine, a faint blush visible on the Hufflepuff's cheeks.

"Love of your life? Quaffle to the goal? Better make a move on him before anyone else does," Aomine yawns."He's the school heartthrob, isn't he? He's got girls confessing to him right and left and you can't even say a single sentence to him, even though I'm pretty sure the redhead has it bad for you too."

"Leave me and my love life alone," Kuroko mutters, puffing out his cheeks in irritation. "You shouldn't be one to talk, not when you and Kise-kun have so much sexual tension."  
"He's not wrong," Kagami chimes in, delighting in Aomine's offended expression. "You two have been going at it since first year."

It was true, Aomine and Kise had started off the wrong foot ever since they met each other - Kise barrelling into Aomine on the Hogwarts Express and neither wanting to apologize. Later, the two of them had ended up in the same boat as each other, plus Momoi. Kise and Aomine had gotten into a heated argument that resulted in both of them flipping the boat over and sending all three of them into the freezing Black Lake. They had walked into the Sorting shivering with sopping wet robes and hair plastered to their foreheads and had been the source of gossip for days afterwards. The fact they had been sorted into rival houses had not helped either: Aomine, Gryffindor and Kise, Slytherin. Whenever they walked past each other in the halls, one would not miss the opportunity to hex the other, resulting in dozens of trips to the Hospital Wing, a few large scale injuries, and an alarming amount of detentions that made both their records a mile long.

Students had grown used their to antics and now made it a habit to back out of the way when they were faced up with each other, remembering the times when they had caused half of the hallway to erupt into flames before Momoi put it out, or when Kise had conjured up a whole flock of birds that terrorized the students until Aida had finally Vanished them all. Aomine and Kise had spent detention that evening scrubbing bird poop off the floors and walls - elbow grease only.

"As if I was ever interested in blondie," Aomine snorts, resting his head on his hand. "Wanna go play some Quidditch?"

"Don't you have, oh, I don't know, homework?" Kagami asks irritably. Aomine finds this statement ridiculous, considering Kagami was the last one who should be lecturing him about homework - both of the Gryffindors were 'lacking in the area of 'book smarts'', or so Midorima had said. Aomine was extremely adept at magic but unwilling to do his work, resulting in him flunking his classes and the blue haired boy curls his lip in contempt.

"Of course, Aida assigns homework like his life depends on it and Shirogane's assignments are harder than Tetsu's dick when he talks to Akashi."

Kuroko puts down his quill and takes his Transfiguration book calmly, swinging it expertly in Aomine's face, causing the latter to fall out of his seat with a crash on the floor. Kuroko drops his heavy book on Aomine's chest while he's on the ground for good measure and Aomine lets out a pained gasp at the weight, Kagami cackling in the background.

"I can't breathe," Aomine chokes, shoving the book off his chest. "Bloody hell, Tetsu, how are you a Hufflepuff? I can feel my ribs crying."

"Nothing a trip to the hospital wing won't fix," Kuroko dismisses, scowling."Plus I do not-"

"You do," Kagami interrupts and Kuroko glares at him as well, picking up his Transfiguration book. Kagami puts his hands up in surrender, and Kuroko drops it on the table with a thud. "But you also deserved, that Aho. Better hope it's nothing too serious or Riko will kick your ass for getting injured before a Quidditch game."

"That woman's graduating next year and then she won't be around to terrorize me anymore," Aomine grumbles from the ground, rubbing his chest.

"It's your fault that you're too busy hexing Kise and for always landing yourself in detention during practices," Kagami points out unkindly and Aomine shrugs, getting back into his seat. He drums his fingers on the table, languidly watching Kuroko and Kagami do their homework, pulling out a piece of parchment himself, drawing deformed quaffles with lopsided smiley faces and scribbling down messy Quidditch strategies all over it, before a cheery voice interrupts him while he's in the middle of envisioning a brand new play, much to his irritation.

"Dai-chan! There you are," the voice says brightly and the three of them glance up to see Momoi with Akashi and the other Ravenclaw prefect, a disgruntled Midorima Shintarou, who was clutching a jar of frog spawn, no doubt his lucky item of the day. "We came to make sure you didn't do anything stupid to Ki-chan. Mind if we join you?"  
Kuroko makes a noise that sounds vaguely like a dying bird at the appearance of Akashi, mumbling something about 'needing to go the bathroom' but Aomine holds onto his arm, refusing to let him get up.

"You're not going anywhere," Aomine says firmly and Kuroko gives him the "Aomine-Daiki-I-Will-Skin-You-Alive-And-Feed-You-To-The-Threstals" look which Aomine ignores. "And it's only because of your threat. Otherwise I would have turned him into a bloody puddle," he snorts. Momoi gives him a disappointed look and sits down across of them, holding onto Midorima's arm to prevent him from escaping. The green haired boy sighs resignedly and takes a seat next to Momoi, placing his jar on the table, which Aomine eyes warily.

"I'd appreciate if you waited until after the Inter-House Cup to maul my Chaser, Daiki," Akashi says, raising an eyebrow and sitting down as well. He leans over the table to see what Kuroko was working on and Kuroko's face blossoms into ten different shades of pink at Akashi's close proximity. Aomine rolls his eyes, because honestly, this boy had it so bad and yet still never made a single move and it was so grossly infuriating to see the two of them constantly dance around each other.

"Vanishing spells? Do you need help, Tetsuya?" Akashi offers, taking the paper from Kuroko, the latter who opens his mouth to protest, trying to reach for his paper.  
"It's fine," Kuroko mumbles, pointedly looking away. "I'd appreciate it if you gave my paper back, though, Akashi-kun." Akashi frowns and returns the paper to Kuroko and Aomine wants to slap Kuroko across the back of his head because everyone knows that _'do you need help'_ is code word for _'do you want to fuck'_ but Kuroko is an 'innocent super virgin' anyways and he values his life so he decides to stay quiet.

"I, um, should get going," Kuroko says hurriedly, rolling up his parchment and shoving his things into his bag. "I promised I would help tutor Kise-kun a bit." Akashi's frown deepens at this point and Aomine totally saw that.

"Hex the bastard for me will you? Can't believe you're friends with him too, you're supposed to be on my side," Aomine drawls as Kuroko stands up and starts to walk away.

"Why do I have to keep telling you? I'm neutral," Kuroko sighs, looking back. Kagami looks at him and desperately mouths 'don't leave me', drawing a finger over his throat and Kuroko gives him an apologetic glance. "Sorry, Kagami-kun, but you'll have to deal."

"Oh, look at the time! We should get going too. Don't forget to attend your detention, Dai-chan! Oh, Takao-kun's Potion's class should be finished by now, Midorin, if you're curious," Momoi says, clasping her hands together.

"What are you suggesting," Midorima says stiffly, pushing up his glasses, staring at Momoi dubiously, the latter only grinning innocently.

"Nothing! Nothing at all. C'mon Akashi-kun, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts, don't we?"

"Actually-" Akashi starts, but he doesn't get any farther as Momoi stomps on his foot, cutting him off and causing the redhead to wince slightly. Aomine's amused at how Momoi could make anyone succumb to her wishes, even the almighty Akashi Seijuro. The two of them had been acquainted with each other since their first year, but had only recently become good friends this year after both being made prefects and were now somewhat inseparable, given the fact their schedules were almost exactly identical. "Right," Akashi says hastily, standing up.

" _Right_ ," Momoi agrees, getting up at as well and linking her arm with Akashi's, leading him away, waving goodbye to them.

"Nice..uh..frog spawn," Aomine says, pointing to Midorima's jar, trying to initiate a conversation between the remaining members seated at the table.

"Thanks," Midorima says dryly and to the side, Kagami facepalms. "I'll get going now too."

"To find your boyfriend," Aomine mocks and Midorima glares at him distastefully before standing up and walking out of the Great Hall as well, leaving Aomine and Kagami. There's a moment silence and then-

"So, Quidditch?" Kagami asks, closing his textbook with a sigh.

"Hell yeah," Aomine grins.

 

* * *

* * *

 

"Satsuki, we don't have Defense Against the Dark Arts for another hour," Akashi frowns as soon as they're out of earshot, Momoi impatiently tugging Akashi up a flight of stairs and down the hall.

"I'm well aware," Momoi says. "I just thought you would want to go the library."

"The library?" Akashi asks in confusion before realization dawning upon him. He stops in his tracks and Momoi raises an eyebrow. "I really don't think-"

 "Nonsense, Tetsu-kun will be glad to see you!" Momoi replies airily, waving a hand and trying to tug Akashi along again.

"He always leaves when I try to talk to him," Akashi sighs, running a hand through his hair in resignation. "He's willing to go hangout with Ryouta as well, so it's not like he detests Slytherins - he just simply seems to be overly fond of ignoring me."

Momoi pats Akashi's arm reassuringly. "You've got it all wrong, Akashi-kun, Tetsu-kun has it bad for you, trust me. He blushes when you try to talk to him! It couldn't be more obvious - fanged frisbees are banned!" she says, flicking her wand and summoning a green frisbee from a group of third years. One of them looks like he wants to argue, but his friend whispers something in his ear and the boy noticeably pales, casting a fearful glance at the two fifth years, before shuffling away with his friends. "Inciting fear in students is more fun than I thought," Momoi giggles, clutching the frisbee before Vanishing it. "Ask him to come watch the upcoming Quidditch match or something. Play brilliantly and win his heart."

"Easier said than done," Akashi mutters. "Why would he want to cheer on a Slytherin versus his friends?"

"It doesn't hurt to try," Momoi argues. "I heard a group of girls giggling in the bathroom stall about how they wanted to sneak you love potion so you would ask them to come watch," and Akashi shudders slightly. "It's the first game of the season after all! Not to mention that everyone wants to see the brilliant Slytherin seeker, isn't it? He's sooooooo hot and dreamy," Momoi teases in a high flirty voice. "You, Akashi Seijuro, are a heartbreaker and all the girls are going to cry when they find out you have a new, cute, boyfriend!"

"He's not interested," Akashi says and Momoi smacks him across the back of the head, causing the redhead to stumble forwards, glaring reproachfully at her.

"Akashi Seijuro, for someone who is a genius, you are quite dense at times, aren't you?" Momoi scolds, but then she taps her chin thoughtfully. "Though, I suppose, that's why you have me."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i rewrote this au like 4 times and probably trashed nearly 10,000 words before writing this and im not even sure if i like this either //shot. but i decided might as well post it instead of agonizing over it and letting it sit in my drafts. working on chapter 2 and hoping that this doesn't bore everyone, i just needed more knb hogwarts au in my life ^^;  
> (also TITLES what are those, i literally just took that off a page with harry potter pick up lines, this is a new level of lame, i'm sorry) 
> 
> akamomo is one of my biggest brotps now, CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW POWERFUL THEY WOULD BE (they're so fun to write, dear god). and really, momoi is everyone's bestie here. 
> 
> comments and feedback are greatly appreciated! 
> 
> my tumblr: [sei-akashi](http://sei-akashi.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (it will always be my headcanon that akashi is just as popular with people as kise is.)
> 
> AND ALSO THANK YOU ALL OF YOU?? I HAD NO IDEA THIS STORY WOULD RECEIVE SO MUCH LOVE SO QUICK?? because 75 kudos already?? you guys are insane and i love all of you <3 (also, extra thanks to people who commented BLESS YOUR SOULS)

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Akashi says as Momoi pushes him into the library.

"I never thought that you'd get nervous, hmm?" Momoi teases and Akashi frowns.

"Fine then," he says, slightly angry at himself for being roped into this so easily. It only takes an impressive fifteen of wandering around the vast library until Momoi spots the Kuroko and Kise seated in a corner of the library, huddled over a book.

"Go!" Momoi huffs, shoving a reluctant Akashi towards their table. "I'll be waiting! Oh, and tell Ki-chan I want to talk to him so you and Tetsu-kun can be left alone for awhile."

Akashi walks slowly over the table where Kise and Kuroko were, Kuroko impatiently pointing to something in the book and Kise looking rather frustrated, pulling at his blonde locks. He clears his throat and the two of them look up in surprise.  

"Akashicchi! Did you need me?" Kise asks brightly, his eyes seem to be pleading 'please get me out of here'.

"Not quite. Satsuki does, however," Akashi replies, gesturing to where Momoi was standing.

"Oh, alright. I'll be back in a sec, Kurokocchi," Kise says in relief, getting up hurriedly and excusing himself. Akashi sits down on Kise's now vacant chair and looks at Kuroko, the other who was determinedly looking anywhere but him.

"So," Akashi begins. "There's a Quidditch match this weekend. The first one of the season."

"So there is," Kuroko mumbles, fidgeting with his quill, a habit which Akashi found to be rather cute.

"Would you, by any chance, like to come watch me play?" Akashi asks. "Although, I know, that we are playing Gryffindor and you have friends on the team, so I understand if you refuse," he adds on hastily. There's a moment pause and Akashi's about to apologize and leave before Kuroko speaks up again.  

"I'll come watch. I always do anyways," Kuroko says quietly and Akashi can feel his heart skip a beat. "I make no promises to cheer for Akashi-kun, though, since I do indeed, have friends on the opposing team."

Akashi deflates slightly at this - why is he disappointed? he expected this - and nods curtly. "Right. Well, thank you, Tetsuya."

Kise returns with a knowing smile and Akashi gets up from his chair, turning to Kise. "We have Quidditch practice at 7:30 pm, don't forget," Akashi tells him.

"Oh," Kise laughs nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "You see, Akashicchi, I have detention at 7:00."

Akashi sighs and closes his eyes briefly in disappointment, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Be at the pitch by 8:00 or I'll let the girls slip love potion into your drink next time."

"Akashicchi!" Kise whines. "I thought we were supposed to look out for each other! I don't let the girls poison your drinks, now do I?"

Akashi briefly contemplates this and remember what Momoi had told him about the love potions in the bathroom. "Of course. I'll triple your training menu instead, then?"

"That's much more preferable, thanks," Kise says, looking relieved and Akashi nods before walking back to Momoi.

"Well, what did he say?" Momoi asks excitedly.

"He said that he'll watch but he probably won't cheer me on," Akashi tells her slowly. "I told you he wasn't interested," he accuses and Momoi blinks and then says "Don't worry! You've just got to play wonderfully and he'll be even more smitten. It's only because Dai-chan and Kagamin are on the team."

"Why do I even listen to you," Akashi groans as he follows Momoi out of the library.

 

* * *

 

Takao steps out of his Potions class when he sees a familiar spot of green hair and his face breaks into a wide grin and he hurries over to Midorima.

"Shin-chan! You waited for me? This is a miracle!" Takao gasps and Midorima only lets out a 'tch'. 

"Momoi was kind enough to inform me that your class was ending. I was only wondering if you wanted to study together in the library," Midorima sniffed. The two of them had met each other in the library in their first year when reaching for the same Charms book and nearly bit each other's heads off over arguing who should be able to check the book out first and in the end, they had somehow ended up in the same table as a compromise to share it and read it together. Eventually, by some sort of silent mutual agreement and unwillingness to move tables, it had morphed into daily study sessions in the library together and had now become 'their thing', or so to speak.

"You are such a nerd," Takao says, rolling his eyes. "But sure, Shirogane's just assigned a complex assignment, you can help me, right?"

"I'm sure you can figure it out yourself," Midorima replies, starting to walk away. Takao smiles at this, well aware of Midorima's roundabout way of complimenting people and he runs a few steps to catch to the Ravenclaw.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin have a match this week! Surely, you'll come and cheer me on?" Takao says eagerly, bouncing on the balls of his feet and Midorima sighs.

"Of course, idiot," Midorima mutters, pushing up his glasses and Takao grins even wider.

"Deep down, I knew Shin-chan always loved me," Takao sighs dramatically, clasping his hand over his chest and Midorima flashes him a glare that suggests he would like nothing better to smash the jar of frog spawn in his hand over Takao's head.

"Go die," Midorima huffs and Takao lets out a raucous laugh, eyes glinting.

"Shin-chan is a bipolar schoolgirl," Takao cackles, clutching his stomach from his own joke. "I'm sure we could get Momoi to help with the braids and skirt and then you'll have the whole get up!"

"Seriously," Midorima says. "Go die. I'll go study in the library by myself."

"Is that the only insult you have, Shin-chan? That's no good!" Takao frowns as they turn the corner and start to descend the flight of stairs. Takao opts for sliding down the banister, completely unfazed by the fact the idea of the staircase moving mid-way which could send him plummeting and Midorima watches him warily.  

"That's dangerous," Midorima warns, pushing his glasses up as Takao surpasses him down the stairs.

"It's nice to know you care!" Takao shouts, jumping off the banister at the end of the stairs, waiting for Midorima to catch up as he readjusts his bag. "Really, it warms my heart," he continues, bumping his shoulder with Midorima as he walks inside the library. They walk to their usual table: in the far right corner of the library next to the window with enough space to seat four people, although it only ever sat two. Takao dumps his bag on the table and flops down on the chair unceremoniously, staring outside. Fall had officially started just a few weeks ago and the courtyard had already been littered with colored leaves and a breeze knocking the tree branches against the large window. There was a couple outside, sitting on the bench, hunched over the same book, the boy occasionally pressing a kiss on the girl's cheek. It occurs to him that there was a Hogsmeade trip approaching the soon - the first one of the year, in fact. He and Midorima had always gone together ever since their third year, Midorima going to the obscure antiques shop and picking out his lucky items and other silly trinkets and Takao dragging Midorima to the Three Broomsticks to get Butterbeer and then to Honeydukes. And although Midorima had always grumbled about how the candy there had no nutritional value, he had always insisted Takao buy some of the different flavored Chocolate Frogs. ("Merely so I can collect the cards," Midorima had claimed, but both of them knew Midorima always gave his cards to Aomine anyways.)

"There's a Hogsmeade trip coming up in a month or two, I think," Takao pipes up after a moment's silence.

"Indeed," Midorima says, flipping open his textbook and dipping his quill into his ink, pressing it onto the parchment and Takao watches the quill glide across the page, suddenly rather nervous.

"Well," Takao says quickly, fiddling his thumbs. "Wanna go together?"

"Don't we always?" Midorima asks, raising an eyebrow, without even glancing up. There’s a pause as Takao feels his heart drop a bit and he realizes that he must have not made his intention clear enough.

"Oh. Yeah. Silly me," Takao laughs awkwardly, turning his attention back to the courtyard.

 

* * *

  


Akashi walks into the Slytherin common room after Defense Against the Dark Arts, about to drop his bag in his favorite arm chair, surprised to find it already occupied.

"Oh, Akashi," Nijimura says, looking up from his homework at Akashi's presence.

"This is my armchair," Akashi replies sourly and Nijimura lets out a chuckle before shifting to the floor where Himuro was sprawled out, currently twirling his wand around and muttering incantations under his breath. Both of them were sixth years, a year older than Akashi and on the Quidditch team as well, Himuro a Chaser and Nijimura the Keeper. Nijimura had been the previous Quidditch captain before handing the position to Akashi this year, much to everyone's surprise, claiming that Akashi was better fit for the position.

"Move over, pretty boy," Nijimura snorts, nudging Himuro's shoulder with his foot as he sits down at the table, Himuro stops his wand twirling, giving him a lazy glare and rolling over. "You've been going to the kitchens too much."

"It's Atsushi's favorite past time," Himuro shrugs, referring to the lazy Hufflepuff giant who was never without food. Akashi flops down on the arm chair with a groan and Nijimura and Himuro share a knowing glance at the uncharacteristic behavior.

"You asked that Kuroko something kid out, didn't you?" Himuro teases. "Bet Momoi had something to do with it."

"Did Akashi Seijuro get rejected? Scandalous!" Nijimura snickers and the two of the break into a fit of laughter, Akashi scowling.

"Not technically," Akashi says grumpily. "I asked him to come watch the Quidditch game, but since he has friends in Gryffindor, he said he wouldn't cheer me on."

"Poor baby," Himuro croons and Akashi aims a kick at his head, which Himuro dodges with ease, although Akashi's smiling slightly now as well. "Can't believe your precious Tetsuya ditched you in favor of my baby brother and his blue haired friend, Aomine," he says, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

"You're the one who makes out with Atsushi in the kitchens," Akashi retorts, sticking out his tongue childishly.

"He's got a fair point there," Nijimura chimes in and Himuro glowers at him. "What? Do you seriously expect us to believe you leave to go the kitchen for hours just to eat?"

"The closest thing he's kissing are those eclairs he loves," Himuro says, rolling his eyes. "Seriously."

 _"Seriously,"_ Akashi mimics and Himuro reaches his arm out, grabbing Akashi's ankle and pulling him down and out of the armchair and onto the floor disgracefully.

"This isn't how you treat your beloved kouhai," Akashi huffs, sitting up in indignation and Nijimura snorts from the side.

"All of you kouhai are so troublesome," Nijimura sighs, tapping his quill against the table and Himuro nods in agreement.

"Unbearable," Himuro agrees. "All Atsushi does is eat. All Taiga does is eat and play Quidditch. Pretty sure all Aomine does is eat, play Quidditch and spend time in detention."

"All Kise does is play Quidditch, run away from fangirls and spend time in detention. All this brat over here does-" Nijimura says, flicking Akashi's forehead "well, you're just you, which explains enough. That Kuroko kid is always popping out in random places, and that's just you fifth years. Momoi is tolerable."

"Don't you have a sister in her second year? And a brother attending next year?" Himuro questions, prodding Nijimura with his wand.

"Don't remind me," Nijimura groans. "They're great siblings and all, but god, this is all your fault," Nijimura says, whipping his head around and glaring at Akashi.

"What," Akashi blinks. "What did I do now?"

"My sister," Nijimura begins, annoyance seeping into his voice "saw you a few days ago and suddenly understands the whole hype about you. And now she knows I'm friends with you. She wants a damn autograph. If not, she says she'll settle for Kise's signature as well. Preferably both, apparently."

"Akashi-sama," Himuro squeals. "I _loooooooveeee_ you, you're so much hotter and cooler than my older brotherr! Shuu-nii is _sooooo_ lucky to be friends with you."

"I will castrate you," Nijimura snarls, moving towards Himuro, the latter who was rolling on the floor in laughter and glee.

"Shut up with the 'sama'," Akashi snaps. After an incident in Akashi's third year where a girl had come up to Akashi with chocolates on Valentine's day and called him 'Akashi-sama', Nijimura and Himuro had watched from the side, bursting into laughter to the point that they hold each other up, and now neither of them would let him forget it.

"Why are you so annoying," Nijimura says irritably. "I thought you were the quiet type at first."

"First impressions are misleading, Shuu-chan," Himuro chuckles. "Yet it's been 6 years and you're still here, so obviously, I am just too endearing for you to leave."

"I need to reevaluate my friendship choices," Nijimura mutters. Himuro pats his arm.

"You know you love us," Himuro says, sympathetically.

"Not really," Nijimura replies.

"I'm hurt," Akashi says. "Honestly, senpai, you wound us."

"I will," Nijimura threatens and Akashi and Himuro shut their mouths immediately.

 

* * *

 

Kuroko sat in the Hufflepuff common room, trying to do his homework. Keyword, trying. He had left the library to retreat back into the common room after Kise had left for Herbology but he found that the only thing he could think about was Akashi and him asking Kuroko to watch the Quidditch game. Did that count as asking someone out? Probably not. Did Kuroko’s answer constitute as rejection? He hoped not. Was it all a joke? Perhaps, though Akashi didn’t seem to be the kind of person to pull pranks. He recalled the time where Kise had told him Akashi was absolutely horrid at making jokes (“They’re beyond bad, Kurokocchi, if you’re looking for Akashi’s one flaw, it’s the inability to tell jokes.”)

“Kuro-chin looks troubled,” Murasakibara drawls, from the couch where he was lazily sprawled out across,, reading a textbook and eating a Cauldron Cake which he undoubtedly, pocketed from the kitchen from his numerous trips there. “Want some?” he offers, breaking off a piece and holding it out to Kuroko.

“No thanks,” Kuroko declines. “I am fine, but thank you for worrying, Murasakibara-kun.”

“Mm, okay” Murasakibara hums and Kuroko recalls that Murasakibara was also good friends with Akashi, both of them being from pureblooded families that stretched generations back and he felt a slight twinge of jealousy. Though Akashi was not one to care much for bloodlines, Kuroko himself was a Muggle born and always felt slightly left out.

“I bet it’s about Akashi,” Ogiwara says, sitting on the opposite side of the table from Kuroko. They had been childhood friends for the longest time and had been both elated to come to the realization both of them were wizards and to attend Hogwarts, despite their families not having a single drop of magical blood. They had found out by accident, when they were having a pillow fight in Ogiwara’s room and a single cream colored  envelope with familiar green ink had fell out of the pillowcase Kuroko was holding. He had picked it up in shock and Ogiwara had paled, snatching it away from him hastily. He had tackled Kuroko into a hug when Kuroko admitted he had received the same letter and both of them took one.They had been overjoyed when they were sorted into the same house, only proving them to be as inseparable as ever.

 “No it’s not,” Kuroko says, a bit too quickly and he bites his lip, realizing he had just given himself away.

“Knew it. You have it so bad.”

“Why can’t everyone leave me alone,” Kuroko groans, letting his head drop into his hands.

“Oh? Kuroko’s thinking about Akashi again?” a voice says cheerfully and Kuroko looks over to see Hayama, a sixth year, perched on the armrest of the armchair, twirling his wand around - why he never opted for actually sitting on the chair instead, Kuroko never knew

“Kuro-chin should just ask Aka-chin out,” Murasakibara yawns. “It’s tiring to see you fawn over him all the time.”

“Reo-nee can help you!” Hayama pipes up, referring to the Ravenclaw 6th year, another close friend of Akashi's and Kuroko lets out a guttural groan.

“Why are all of you so nosy,” Kuroko complains. “I should have stayed in the library.”

“I heard that Akashi likes the library as well,” Ogiwara says innocently and Kuroko throws his hands up in the air in frustration.

_“I don’t like him!”_

“How is it possible to be this deep in denial?” Hayama asks in awe and Kuroko throws his quill at him, the latter catching it skillfully. “Admit it Kuroko.”

“Screw you,” Kuroko snaps and Hayama laughs at Kuroko’s uncharacteristic insult, tossing the quill back to Kuroko.

“I think the one you want to be screwing is Akashi,” Ogiwara interrupts.

Kuroko lunges at him.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine and Kise spend "quality time" in detention, Himuro goes the kitchens (not to make out, he swears) and Midorima wonders about Takao.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS FIC HAS ALREADY GOTTEN 196 KUDOS?? YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING AND IM SOBBING, THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU <3 
> 
> also: please check out tragicsentimentality's cute as hell art she drew for this fic [here](http://tragicsentimentality.tumblr.com/post/119097275864/akashi-momoi-and-midorima-from-the-first-chapter), [here](http://tragicsentimentality.tumblr.com/post/119176090069/sai-is-back-up-i-can-cry-kuroko-tetsuya-from), and [here](http://tragicsentimentality.tumblr.com/post/119605552364/sei-akashi-i-am-sorry-but-i-gave-up-on-the)

“You’re late,” Professor Aida snaps as the door opens and Aomine strolls in, shrugging Aida's words off. Their detention just so happened to coincide with dinner time and Aomine was already starving so he had simply taken a detour to the kitchens, swiped some pastries and came over to Aida’s office five minutes late; Kise already sitting there with a scowl on his face.

“Asshole” Kise mutters. “I don’t want to get a lecture from Aida about being tardy to detentions because you had to go shove your face.” Aomine raises an eyebrow, because it's impressive that Kise knows him well enough to guess he had been in the kitchens.

“The two of you will be cleaning all of the desks in the Potions classroom today. All elbow grease and I will be checking each one!” Aida thunders and Aomine and Kise reach into their pockets to reluctantly hand over their wands. Aida points to the door, no longer bothering with formalities after the dozens of times they had gone through this ritual and they trudge out of his office and head towards the dungeon.

When they reach the dungeons, they are greeted with two buckets of soapy water and too-small sponges for a too big of a mess. Aomine suspects that this had been the first year's first attempt at one of the more challenging potions and that a cauldron or two had been melted. He lets out a guttural groan as he picks up the sponge and starts to move towards the nearest desk  where a suspicious gloopy purple liquid was spilled over the chair. Across the room, Kise lets out a quiet scream, followed by a string of swear words and he turns around, amused to see the blonde had leaped back from the table in disgust.

"Someone spilled bat spleen and salamander blood? And why does this failed potion look yellow and chunky? Why would you do this to me," Kise wails and behind him, Aomine snickers. Kise whips around, his eyes flashing. "Shut up," he snaps and Aomine shrugs innocently.

"Yellow and chunky, huh?" Aomine asks. "Sounds a lot like you." Kise curls his lip, but without his wand, the most he do is flip Aomine off and curse at him before turning back to the desk in front of him. Aomine turns back to the task in front of him and gingerly reaches out to clean up the purple concoction, nearly gagging at the bile smell as he dunks the sponge in the water to clean it off. Purple liquid swirls around for a moment, before vanishing and Aomine thinks, thank god for magic because the last thing he wanted to happen was for him to have to deal with murky soap water. He wipes down another desk by the time Kise is finally done with the bat spleen and Aomine nearly throws up when he sees an eyeball submerged in a puddle of brown liquid underneath the next desk, had none of the first years ever learned to pick up after themselves?

He feels a drop of soapy water hit his nape and he narrows his eyes, turning around to see Kise humming innocently as he wipes down a desk.

"You bastard," Aomine says, shivering as the soapy - and probably dirty since it was from Kise - water travels down his back. He dunks his own hand in the pail of water and flicks water droplets at Kise, the latter stopping his humming to glare at Aomine. Kise retaliates by throwing his sponge at Aomine - and really that's uncalled for just a few drops of water, Aomine thinks. He dodges and the sponge sails right over his head, to the wall, where it sticks and slides off, leaving a trail of soap and slime in it's wake.

"You have to clean that up, you know," Aomine points out and Kise curls his lip.

"I know, I know," Kise fumes, obviously disappointed he had missed his mark, and stalks over to where Aomine was to retrieve the fallen sponge. Aomine sees his opportunity then, and he lifts the pail of water when Kise walks past, dumping all of it's contents on the Slytherin's head, who shrieks and jumps nearly a foot in the air. The bucket magically refills after Aomine sets it down again and Kise turns around slowly, a murderous intent in his eyes. Aomine has a hard time taking Kise seriously though, as his robes are clinging to his frame, white soap visible against black. His blonde hair is plastered to his forehead and his eyeliner is starting to run down the corner of his eyes giving him the appearance of a raccoon with golden eyes. Kise lunges at the bucket, and picks it up, throwing water all over Aomine as well. As soon as the cold water hits him, Aomine lets out an ungodly scream of indignation, half of him drenched. Water is quickly accumulating and pooling at their feet, their robes dripping and Aomine can feel water start to enter his shoes and god - that's disgusting. Kise curls his lip in contempt - his signature move of annoyance, Aomine has realized, and drops his head in his hands.

"You fucking asshole!" he shouts, though his voice is muffled. "We're not going to clean this up in time and Akashicchi is going to have my hide!" He looks up and stomps over to the sponge, picking it up and flinging it at Aomine yet again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the asshole," Aomine snorts, picking up the sponge and throwing it back at Kise

"You are! You didn't need to go that far!" Kise retorts as he catches the sponge gingerly and points at Aomine.

"Whatever. We won't get anything done if we don't hurry up," Aomine says and Kise leers at him before turning and stomping back to his half of the classroom, not saying another word to Aomine. Aomine wants to yell that it's unfair that the puddle is on his side of the room, but he supposes he deserves it and he walks over the closet, pulling out a mop and mopping up the mess with a resigned sigh. He can see that eyeball in the puddle judging him and he glares right back at it while he's mopping.

After a lot more cringing and grimacing and nearly crying when he had to pick up the eyeball with his bare hands because Aida was a demon who didn't think to provide them with gloves - or didn't want to - both which were very plausible - Aomine is finally finished, and he stretches his back, letting out a sigh of relief. Kise is also done and all they can do is wait for a few more minutes before Aida shows up. Both of their robes are still soaked and Kise is shivering slightly. When Aida finally shows up, giving them a disapproving once over - Aomine guesses that Aida knows the reason behind their damp robes - and he dismisses them, Kise runs out of the classroom and down to the Quidditch pitch and Aomine sees with disappointment, that dinner is long over so he drags himself over to the kitchens.

 

* * *

 

 

It's already a little past 8 when Kise leaves the classroom, and he's sure that Akashi will murder him for being late to practice, so he rushes outside and gasps at the cold air - a terrible combination with his wet robes. He's shaking and hugging himself for warmth by the time he arrives at the Quidditch pitch, the rest of the team flying around and he waves nervously to Akashi. The redhead flies down to where Kise was, dismounting his broom and giving him a quick once over at his pathetic form, raising an eyebrow, just like Aida had.

"It's a long story and I'm sorry for being late," Kise apologizes and Akashi pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Go change," he sighs and Kise realizes that Akashi must be a particularly generous mood today to take pity on Kise and he sprints to the locker room, throwing off his robes and uniform before slipping into his warm and dry Quidditch uniform. He grabs his broom from the closet and runs back outside in 5 minutes flat so that even Akashi is impressed.

He mounts his broom and does a few laps around the pitch to warm up before joining the rest of the team in the middle of the pitch.

"Heads!" someone shouts and Kise looks up to see a Quaffle coming at his face. He catches it with ease and grins as Himuro beckons him over.

"Okay, so you, me, and Akashi are against everyone else. No Beaters," Himuro explains and Kise stares at the other four members hovering on the other side of the pitch, waiting for the start of the mock game.

"This seems kind of unfair," Kise mutters under his breath and Himuro pats his back sympathetically.

"Tough luck for us, then," Himuro says. "First to score 5 goals wins."

Kise nods and to his side, Akashi yells start. Himuro zips forward and Kise dives down beneath Imayoshi and Haizaki, throwing the Quaffle to Himuro. Himuro catches it and aims for the goal but Nijimura successfully blocks it, Himuro giving him a sour look. Hanamiya flies over to catch it and starts to fly towards the other side, Kise hot on his trail. Hanamiya turns around and sticks his tongue out at Kise, giving him a smug look.

"Can't believe you got caught and put in detention, _idiot_ ," Hanamiya drawls and Kise glowers at him. Hanamiya caused more trouble than he was worth, but yet the teachers had never caught him in the act, thus never landing in detention - a feat which anyone would find impressive over the course of 6 years. Hanamiya throws the Quaffle forward when Kise tries to knock his broom and Imayoshi catches it, throwing it towards the hoop. However, Akashi is fast and he intercepts the Quaffle midway, tossing it all the way back to Himuro and then flying forward himself, nodding at Kise who assumes Akashi's place as Keeper.

It continues like that for awhile: the teams relatively even matched, the players switching off in positions, but in the end, the other team manages to edge out a win at 4 to 5 before Akashi calls for the end of practice. The team saunters the changing room and Himuro's out the door before Kise has even put on his school robes.

"Where's Murocchi going?" Kise frowns as he takes off his leather guards, grimacing when he picks up and changes into his still wet robes.

"To suck Murasakibara's face off," Nijimura says, making kissy duck face and the whole team chuckles. "Probably to the kitchens or something."

"It's almost curfew," Kise notes and from the sideline, Hanamiya snorts.

"Who cares about curfew," Hanamiya says in a bored tone as he takes off his goggles. "The teachers can't even enforce it properly."

"You should," Akashi frowns, but it's not like he can do much anyways - Hanamiya's a prefect just like him and year older; Kise will never understand what the Headmaster was thinking while making that decision. Haizaki snickers as well but Nijimura aims a punch at his face and Haizaki dodges, emitting an interesting noise, because Nijimura punched _hard._

"You better not land yourself in more trouble or you'll get kicked off the team for good," Nijimura threatens, pointing at Haizaki's chest and Haizaki gulps. Kise had never liked Haizaki after he tried to knock Kise off this broom with a bludger in his first year and the rest of the team just barely put up with him. Even Imayoshi and Hanamiya found his constant brawling and suspensions from the team bothersome - Hanamiya had told Haizaki "If you're going to fuck shit up, at least don't get caught!" But yet, Haizaki remained on the team because he was, admittedly, a terrific Beater that none of the reserves could compete with, albeit overly aggressive at times.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Haizaki grumbles, walking out of the locker room and Nijimura lets out a sigh.

"How much do you want to bet that he's going to land himself with another 2 week Quidditch suspension?" Nijimura asks, crossing his arms and Akashi shakes his head.

"I'll kick him off the team if that happens," he says firmly.

"Hey, any chance you could do that regardless?" Kise questions from the side and Akashi shakes his head.

"Sorry, but even so, he is a valuable player," Akashi replies, although the redhead thinks that maybe he'll kick Haizaki off the team after he helps them win the first match of the season.

* * *

 

Himuro dashes out of the changing room and into the castle. He's already a little late due to practice running over time and he takes three stairs at a time before turning the hallway and arriving at a portrait of a giant fruit bowl, slightly out of breath. He's going to get so much shit for this later from the rest of team, he knows, but he also knows that he can get Nijimura to shut up with a danish or two. Three if he's being particularly stingy and Himuro reminds himself to bring four just in case. He makes sure no one else is around and tickles the pear, the fruit turning into a large handle which he swings open, climbing through the portrait hole, the painting swinging closed behind him.

"Muro-chin is late," a lazy voice calls from the side and he sees Murasakibara sitting at the small wooden table in the corner of the kitchen, a plate of food already in front of him. Due to their numerous visits, the house elves had eventually just opted for placing a small table for them, but had underestimated Murasakibara's height, and he towers over the table - but hey, at least he sits in the chair comfortably, although it's a bit too short and his knees jut up.

Himuro takes a seat, his face flushed red and his appearance disheveled, apologizing for Quididitch practice running late and a house elf brings him a plate of chocolate cake.

"Would you do me the favor of bringing me four cheese danishes?" he asks the elf kindly and she squeaks 'yes' in response before scurrying off and Himuro stares at the cake with slight apprehension. Eventually, his lack of self control and hunger from practice wins over and he picks up the fork, shoving a forkful of cake in his mouth.

"I need to stop eating so much of this stuff," Himuro mutters after swallowing the bite of cake and Murasakibara looks slightly scandalized at his words, furrowing his brows.

"Nonsense, Muro-chin. Everyone likes snacks," Murasakibara blinks childishly, picking up an eclair. He holds it up in front of Himuro's mouth.

"Here," Murasakibara offers and Himuro smiles before leaning forward and taking a bite out of the eclair. He's not the biggest fan of them, but Murasakibara has always loved them and Himuro always ends up indulging him and his silly wishes. Murasakibara takes a bite out of the eclair himself and Himuro can practically hear Kise yell "THAT COUNTS AS AN INDIRECT KISS, MUROCCHI" and chuckles to himself quietly. It isn't if as he hasn't thought about being in a relationship with Murasakibara: there are nights where he's been awake thinking about all those 'what ifs' but he feels his relationship with the Hufflepuff leaned much more towards _'hey I would date you if you wanted to, but if you don't, I'm fine with that too - and I'm probably not going to act on it unless you act first'_ rather than _'hey I really like you and I would like date you and I'll show it'_ and right now, Himuro didn’t think Mursakibara showed much interest in dating, which was fine by him.

The house elf returns with the danishes, all neatly wrapped and Himuro slips them into his cloak pocket safely before picking up his fork and taking another bite of cake. This is nice, he thinks. Eating junk food in the kitchen when it’s almost curfew with a friend is a lot nicer than it sounds. He wonders however, if it was the person he spent that time with that made the experience enjoyable.

"Muro-chin looks happy," Murasakibara says through a mouthful of eclair and Himuro smiles softly.

"I am," he replies.

 

* * *

 

Midorima stares at the goblet he was trying to Transfigure in front of him with frustration - being more so distracted than actually being unable to turn the cup into a rat. The common room was almost empty and Midorima had surprisingly, not yet finished his homework. All he could think about was Takao asking him to go Hogsmeade with him back in the library earlier. Part of him knows that Takao is just asking to go as friends, as they always do, but the other side of him wants to believe that maybe, Takao had been trying to ask him out on a date. Midorima tolerates Takao, yeah, likes him as a friend, yeah, but something beyond that? He's not so sure. He doesn't want to mess anything up: he values their friendship too much for that and so he had simply given a nonchalant, seemingly ignorant response in return. However, he did not expect to feel just as disappointed when Takao had laughed it off and not made his intention more clear.

"Is Shin-chan having trouble?" a smooth voice asks behind him and Midorima nearly jumps out of his seat, turning around to see Reo and Mayuzumi standing behind him. He takes a deep breath: Takao and Reo were the only ones that called him 'Shin-chan', yet even when Reo did so, he always thought of Takao first.

"Ah, no," Midorima says quickly, adjusting his glasses, hoping that they'll leave him be and Mayuzumi sighs.

"I told you, Reo," he says, about to walk off again - Midorima thanks the gods that Mayuzumi doesn't like putting up with people, but Reo grabs his sleeve, stopping Mayuzumi in his tracks and Midorima sighs. It's not that Midorima doesn't like Reo, they are rather close, but sometimes, he'd appreciate being left alone.

"Not yet, Mayu-chan," Reo frowns and Mayuzumi scowls slightly, crossing his arms.

"I'm your senior! It's senpai," he sniffs but Reo only laughs, leaning close to Midorima to observe the goblet.

"Hmm, Transfiguration. Not too tricky, you should be more than able to handle it, so I'm guessing it's due to lack of concentration. Anything happen?" Reo asks in a concerned voice, sharp as ever. He pulls a seat out, resting his head in his hands and Mayuzumi sighs loudly in exasperation in the background.

"Juniors," Mayuzumi mutters, but he leans against the wall to listen in on the conversation, albeit opening his light novel to make him appear uninterested.

"Not really," Midorima answers vaguely, hoping that it would be enough to disinterest them.

"Momoi mentioned a guy," Mayuzumi coughs from the side and Midorima turns to scowl at him, but Mayuzumi only continues to innocently flip through his light novel. Midorima reminds himself to go reprimand Momoi about keeping her nose out of his love life, but he remembers that the girl would find out information one way or another, whether he liked it or not.

"Oh, our Shin-chan is growing up," Reo beams and Midorima covers his face with his hand in embarrassment. "But aren't you already dating some boy from Gryffindor?"

"That's the boy I was talking about," Mayuzumi says from the side. "Apparently, shocking enough, they're _not_ dating."

"We're just friends," Midorima snaps and Mayuzumi says _"doesn't seem like it, now does it"_ under his breath and Midorima wonders when all of this drama even started up anyways. "Why does everyone think we're dating."

"Because you _are_?" Mayuzumi says slowly as if he was talking to someone unable to comprehend words. He gives Midorima a disappointed glare, as if he’s shocked Midorima could be that stupid. "The whole school thinks it."

"Like an old married couple," Reo comments and Midorima wants to go crawl into some corner of the earth to never have to show his face again.

"We're not like that," Midorima explains, trying to stay calm.

"Do you want to be?" Reo questions. He points to the goblet in front of Midorima. "I think your time with the goblet is making you self aware."

"I had a long day," Midorima defends and Reo shakes his head.

"Think about it," Reo says and all Midorima can think of as a reply in his head is 'I've been thinking about it for too long now.' (Not like he'll admit it though: Takao is a friend, after all. Right. _Just a friend._ )

 


	4. Chapter 4

Kagami walks into the boy's dormitory after spending a long few hours studying in the library with Kuroko. He had wanted to finish his homework without having to pull another all nighter so he could get sleep and Kuroko had promised he would help Kagami with his Transfiguration homework. Except the blue haired Hufflepuff had spent more time relaying his troubles about Akashi to Kagami and how he had to spend a whole five minutes trying to convince Ogiwara he was indeed going to the library to study with Kagami, not to make out with Akashi in the bookshelves ("Slytherin has Quidditch practice right now anyways!" he grumbles under his breath) than actually doing his homework.

"I thought you were here to help me with my Transfiguration homework," Kagami says desperately. "Yes, Akashi is very attractive, Kuroko, this is the third time you've said this, now can you please help me with Vanishing spells."

"Vanished objects go into non-being, which is to say, everything," Kuroko voices tonelessly like a record on repeat. He has that look in his eyes that suggests he isn't paying attention and off in his world of incoherent ramblings and rants. Kagami hastens to scribble the words down regardless because he thinks he's heard Aida say something similar in class before and it sounds true enough.

"And?" Kagami presses.

"That's it," Kuroko says tiredly, rubbing his eyes as if he had any right to be tired after not even touching his work and Kagami's jaw drops open in outrage.

"Kuroko! I have to write six inches about Vanishing spells! This is one line!" Kagami yells and the librarian gives him a dirty look, to which he quiets down, face flushed in embarrassment.

"...The incantation is Evanesco," Kuroko supplies unhelpfully and Kagami sighs, but he writes that down as well, in noticeably larger letters. Kuroko pulls out his own assignment, almost a page long and Kagami's jaw drops open again.

"Kuroko, you liar! There's definitely more you aren't bothering to tell me!" Kagami says despairingly and Kuroko gives him a withering look as he taps a finger on the Transfiguration textbook.

"It's all right in here, Kagami-kun," Kuroko says placatingly. Kagami's opened his new textbook willingly a grand total of twice so far, once to write his name in it and the second to rip out the title page to fold a paper airplane. He glances warily at the textbook, as if afraid it would lash out and bite.

"I'll buy you a vanilla butterbeer at Hogsmeade," Kagami bribes and when Kuroko's eyes widen a fraction, that's when Kagami knows he's won.

"Deal."

 

* * *

 

Kagami walks into the dorm, only to see Takao on his bed, his head buried in the pillows and periodically emitting various groans and moans.

"Uh," Kagami blinks, really not in the mood to deal with anyone for the rest of the day, "you okay, man?"

"No," comes Takao's muffled reply. "I can't do this, Kagami."

"Do what?" Kagami asks, dropping his book bag by his bed and sitting down on the side. He pats Takao's back awkwardly, hoping the gesture would reassure him and Takao lets out a long sigh.

"I tried to ask Shin-chan - sorry, Midorima - to Hogsmeade. Except it kind of backfired because he thought I just meant as friends," Takao admits and Kagami gives him a pitying glance.

"That sucks," Kagami says sympathetically. "Hey, why are you on my bed, by the way?"

"I don't think you understand. This is a serious crisis," Takao bemoans. "You're so lucky you don't love a clueless friend. Or better yet, you're lucky you don't love someone who might not feel the same about you. And I didn't want to mess up my own bed covers. Plus you have more pillows than me."

"You're jumping to conclusions too fast. Maybe you were just too vague. You don't know that he doesn't like you back," Kagami tries and Takao's shoulders slump dejectedly. The door to the boy's dormitory slams open again and Aomine comes sauntering in with wet robes and a scowl, flinging his bag onto his bed. He strips off his robes, tossing them aside and they land on the floor on the other side of his bed before he slips into his pyjamas. Aomine has two completely different sides of his bed because his bed's closest to the door and it's the first thing people see when they walk into the dormitory. The one time Momoi had come into the Gryffindor boy's dorms and saw the clutter next to Aomine's bed, her face switched from the cheerful _'hello, want to go get some breakfast with Tetsu-kun?'_ to _'Aomine Daiki if you don't clean it all up I will slap the living daylights out of you'_ so now he keeps the floor to the right of the bed clean and dumps all his junk and clothes on the left side where no can see it unless they walk over. Kagami's bed is unluckily, right next to Aomine's which means he always has to remember to get out of the bed from the left side unless he wants to step in that heap of who-knows-what.

"Damn Kise," Aomine sneers to no one in particular. "Stupid Kagetora. Stupid detention. Screw everything."

"Aww did something happen, Daiki dearest?" Takao mocks, looking up from his pillow and Aomine demonstrates his best comeback with all his intelligence - sticking his middle finger straight in the air and flipping Takao off.

"You shouldn't be talking," Aomine retorts, looking at Takao's disheveled appearance. "Me and Kise had a cat fight in detention. We dunked water over each other's heads and I had to pick up an eyeball with my bare hands. Speaking of which, I think I'm going to burn my right hand off now because it's been forever defiled."

"The both of you are such drama queens," Kagami mutters under his breath. Aomine and Takao both throw a dirty glance at Kagami, who only shrugs in return. _I just wanted to do my homework and go to bed. Really._ Kagami thinks sadly.

"This is the problem of heartache, Taiga," Takao says half seriously, half joking as he gets up, turning around and clasping a hand on Kagami's shoulder.

"Yeah," Aomine nods in agreement and then he blinks in surprise as if just realizing Takao's words. He's slow like that sometimes."Wait, what?! No! Takao's the only one with the crush problems here!"

"Sure," Takao drawls, giving Aomine a sly, knowing look and Aomine's eyes widen.

"As if I could ever like Kise!" Aomine sputters, face reddening. "Have you seen how annoying he is? I mean, I don't- don't be ridiculous Takao!"

At this, Takao breaks into a fit of laughter before his expression turns grave and he strokes his imaginary beard, as if deeply contemplating. "Denial is the first step, Daiki dearest."

"I'm going to shower. And quit calling me Daiki dearest," Aomine says mulishly, storming off to the bathroom where Takao and Kagami hear the water for the showers turn on shortly after.

"Okay, now, please get off my bed," Kagami requests and Takao complies, albeit with grumbling and reluctance as he treads over to the bed next to Kagami's. They change into pyjamas and Kagami crawls into bed, turning the light off. He lets out a contented sigh at the feeling of sinking into his bed, closing his eyes comfortably until Takao's voice breaks the beautiful silence.

"What if my advances ruin our friendship," Takao mumbles in concern.

"We can discuss this in the morning. I just want to go to sleep," Kagami hisses, taking a pillow and using it to cover his eyes. There's a moment of silence and Kagami lets out a heavy sigh because no matter how many times he tries to be curt and firm, he always feels guilty, takes two steps back and ends up apologizing. "Don't fret about it, man. I mean, to the outside eye, the two of you look like you're already dating so I'm sure he reciprocates your feelings. Whatever happens, you'll probably both stay friends."

"Probably. Thanks," Takao replies drily and Kagami grunts in response. The water for the shower had turned off by now and Aomine comes out of the bathroom, padding back into his bed and crawling underneath the covers with a scowl.

"I don't like Kise. I hate him, actually, so don't get it mixed up," Aomine grumbles under his breath as he shifts around in his bed.

"The lights are out, Aho!" Kagami thunders. "You know what that means? Right! It means bed! It means sleep! You know what that means? It means shut up and let poor Kagami get his much deserved sleep!"

 

 

 

"I don't want to hear it," Kagami says hoarsely the next morning when Himuro comes up to him at breakfast.

"Bad day already?" Himuro says sympathetically, sliding into the seat next to Kagami who scowls.

"Bad night, actually," Kagami grunts, violently stabbing at a waffle he was pretending to be Aomine's face. Kagami had accidentally gotten out of the bed from the right this morning and he swears that there was something trying to pull his foot deeper and deeper into the clutter. "I wasn't able to get a good night's sleep. Ahomine and Bakao wouldn't shut up about their love life even after the lights went out, so if you came here to gripe about Murasakibara, which you probably did, I don't want to hear it."

"Taiga," Himuro says seriously. "You know me too well."

"Get. Out." Kagami stuffs the waffle in his mouth as he glares at Himuro, daring him to say one word about Murasakibara and Himuro chuckles.

"I'm kidding. I didn't come here to complain about Atsushi. Can't a big brother spend time with his little brother with no ulterior motives?"

"Okay, but it's you," Kagami says, side eyeing him warily, although there's a small smile stretched over his lips at Himuro's words.

"Ah, the problems of love at such a young age," Himuro quips and Kagami rolls his eyes.

"You're like, still thirteen and still in your emo phase," Kagami mumbles around a mouthful of food, gesturing to Himuro's fringe. Even Kagami's never seen both of Himuro's eyes and they'd known each other since childhood - Kagami's starting to think that Himuro was born out of the womb with that hair. ("Do you even have two eyes?" Kagami had asked skeptically one day when they were seven and the fact that Himuro's response had been a mysterious smile and shrugging 'maybe' had not pacified Kagami's curiosity.)

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that from the person who talks to his basketball," Himuro retorts. Growing up as half-bloods, basketball had been just a big part of their life as Quidditch had. Partly because the kids at school would never believe them if they said the reason they were so athletic was because they flew around on broomsticks and scoring balls into hoops thirty meters up in the air and partly because basketball was the one of closest Muggle sports there were to Quidditch.

"It was just one time!"

"Whatever makes you happy, Taiga. Oh, did you know? Kise came to Quidditch practice soaked yesterday," Himuro comments, changing the topic.

"Aomine said they dumped water over each other," Kagami informs and Himuro raises a delicate eyebrow.

"Ah..is that so..." Himuro muses. "Kise was ranting and raving in the dorms about it later."

"Same with Aomine," Kagami chortles. "He kept claiming he hated Kise and definitely didn't like him. I always thought they truly despised each other but now-"

"You know what they say-"

"About pulling the pigtails of the girl you like-"

Their conversation is interrupted when Aomine plops down onto the other empty seat next to Kagami and begins piling food on his plate before beginning to shove his mouth. His spoon is halfway to his mouth when he realizes something is off and he turns his head slowly towards Himuro and Kagami who were both staring intently at him.

"What?" Aomine demands, peering at the two of them suspiciously. "What?"

 

* * *

 

 

Himuro's this weird sort constant in Murasakibara's life. It had all started when Murasakibara was still a first year and his older brother had shown him how to sneak into the kitchens. He had been walking down the halls, heading towards the fruit bowl portrait when he had crashed into a boy in Slytherin robes with his hair covering half of his face.

"Sorry about that," the boy apologizes, picking up his scattered books and papers and shoving them into his bag. _Weird,_  is the first thing Murasakibara thinks. _Why did he wear his hair like that?_ "I'm Himuro Tatsuya, a second year."

"I'm Murasakibara Atsushi and I'm a first year," Murasakibara says, peering behind the boy's shoulder. "Sorry, but I gotta go-"

"Where are you going?" Himuro asks curiously. Murasakibara's brother had told them that he wasn't supposed to tell anyone how to get into the kitchens because they could spill the secret and they would all get in trouble. Not to mention, the teachers would no doubt add a password to the entrance of the kitchen and they certainly didn't want that happening.

"I'm not allowed to tell you," Murasakibara informs resolutely.

"Why not?" Himuro questions. So curious. It's annoying, Murasakibara thinks sourly. "Is it because I'm a Slytherin and you're a Hufflepuff?"

"Mm, don't think of me of as so shallow, Muro-chin. I don't mind Slytherins. My older sister's in Slytherin and so is Aka-chin..."

"Aka-chin?" Himuro tilts his head slightly to the side curiously and Murasakibara's starting to lose his patience.

"Akashi. He's a friend of mine. _Bye_ ," Murasakibara says, walking past Himuro, but to his dismay, the raven haired boy follows him.

"Please let me come?" Himuro asks, dogging Murasakibara's footsteps. The portrait is just around the corner.

"I want to crush you," Murasakibara sniffs but he supposes he has no choice if Himuro keeps bothering him. "I guess I'll let you stick around. I'm going to the kitchens. I'm not supposed to tell anyone where it is, so don't tell anyone else, mkay?"

"I promise," Himuro says solemnly as they turn the corner and the fruit bowl portrait comes into sight. "How do you know about the kitchens anyways?"

"My brother told me," Murasakibara huffs. "You ask too many questions." He reaches the portrait and reaches out to the tickle the pear, the fruit turning into a handle and he pries the portrait open, revealing the bustling kitchen. He climbs through the hole, Himuro following him and letting out an impressed whistle.

"Can I have an eclair?" Murasakibara asks the house elves and they bow, replying _'yes sir, right away'_ before scurrying off to go get the sweet. The house elves return less than a minute later with a tray full of eclairs and they hold it up to Murasakibara, who has to bend down to receive the platter, patting the house elf's head gratefully.

"Do you want one?" Murasakibara asks grudgingly. "You're kind of annoying but I guess I'll share anyways."

"I'm touched," Himuro jokes with a smile and he takes the offered eclair, taking a bite. He has a charming smile, Murasakibara realizes. It's the kind girls swoon over and charms the adults. Even Murasakibara admits it's a nice smile.

 

 

The next time Murasakibara comes to the kitchen, he's surprised to see Himuro there too.

"Oh! Murasakibara. Hello," Himuro greets and Murasakibara furrows his brow.

"What are you doing here?" Murasakibara demands and Himuro shrugs.

"I was hungry," he admits and the elves shove a sandwich into his hands, telling him to enjoy and Himuro thanks them. "I am allowed to come, aren't I?" he asks teasingly, taking a bite into his sandwich.

"I guess..." Murasakibara says, looking away.

 

 

It's infuriating. Whenever Murasakibara goes to the kitchens, Himuro's there too. He doesn't even know how Himuro does it every single time, but they always manage to run into each other which was ridiculous considering Murasakibara snuck into the kitchens to get _away_ from people.

It turns out Himuro's not as bad as Murasakibara originally thought so he lets him stick around and finds that Himuro's actually decent company. By some miracle - Murasakibara will never really understand himself - the two of them start to get closer to each other, friends even.

"Can I call you Atsushi?" Himuro requests one day and Murasakibara pauses before nodding with a shrug.

"Muro-chin can call me what he wants," Murasakibara answers.

The only other person that calls Murasakibara 'Atsushi' besides family is Akashi and he's known Akashi  since before the two of them could walk due to being from pureblood families with relations that stretched generations back. He lets Akashi call him Atsushi because they're awfully close.

Not that Himuro and him are close or anything. Really.

 

 

"I have the best poker face," Himuro boasts while eating a piece of cake and Murasakibara surveys Himuro's face, thinking back to Himuro's smile when he had first met him and all the times he had grinned since then.

"No you don't," Murasakibara informs him. "You have one of the worst poker faces I've ever see, Muro-chin."

"Oh," Himuro says sheepishly, dropping his fork and looking to the side. "I guess that's when I'm around you, though. I have one of the best poker faces - here I'll show you-"

His mouth forms a thin line, forming a neutral expression and he looks at Murasakibara with no emotion at all. Murasakibara doesn't like it.

"Muro-chin," Murasakibara frowns, tapping the other's forehead with his index finger. "I don't like it when you look like that. You look better when you smile."

So Himuro does.

  
  


 

"You're coming back here again tomorrow, right?" Murasakibara finds himself asking one day when Himuro's walking towards the portrait hole, about to leave.

"If that's what Atsushi wants," Himuro replies with a smile and Murasakibara finds himself nodding because somehow, along the way, Murasakibara finds that he really does enjoy Himuro's presence.

Himuro comes back the next day, just as he promised and from then on, it becomes their unofficial official thing.

 

 

It's been four years since then and Himuro's become a daily part of Murasakibara's life. Himuro's no longer there because Murasakibara lets him stay.

He's there because Murasakibara needs him to stay.

He spoils Murasakibara rotten. When Murasakibara asks him to accompany him to the kitchen, he replies with _'if that's what Atsushi wants'_ and when they go to Hogsmeade together to go buy chocolate at Honeydukes and Murasakibara asks Himuro buy him a dozen chocolate frogs, Himuro tells him that eating too much candy is unhealthy, especially when he's still growing before pulling out a few coins from his pocket and saying ' _but if that's what Atsushi wants-'_ and buying them.

Their schedules are centered around each other, too. Murasakibara wakes up early just so he can eat with Himuro in the dining hall even if Slytherins and Hufflepuffs aren't supposed to eat together (nobody follows the rules about hosue separation during meals anymore anyways, and the teachers have long stopped trying to enforce it). He goes to classes and then he goes to the library to study with Himuro. They eat together during dinner too and then, if neither of them have Quidditch practice, Himuro drags Murasakibara over to the Quidditch pitch where Himuro practices scoring against Murasakibara. By the time the sky has started to turn dark, they sneak into the kitchens and stay there until curfew where they bide other goodnight and the whole process repeats the next day.

 

Near the end of Murasakibara's first year, he had asked Himuro - rather shyly, he admits grudgingly - if the two of them were friends. Himuro had given him that charming smile of his and replied with _'if that's what Atsushi wants.'_

Murasakibara tells him that yes, he wants to be friends with Muro-chin. That's what he wants.

 

Now, he's not so sure if he wants to be just friends.

 

Murasakibara has a lot of relatives. He has four older siblings, a handful of aunts and uncles and too many cousins for him to even keep count of. Even if he doesn't even count the cousins once or twice removed or anything complicated like that, the Murasakibara family tree could fill up a whole wall on a room. At family reunions, he has a bunch of relatives coming over and asking if he's found someone 'special' yet. He's only fifteen, he wants to protest, but they tell him he should hurry and find himself a nice girl. Or even a boyfriend.

The thing is, Murasakibara doesn't see the need. He and Himuro go to the kitchens and Hogsmeade together. They share meals and take turns paying for drinks at the Three Broomsticks and Himuro buys him chocolate. They study in the library together and Himuro drags Murasakibara out to the pitch to practice Quidditch with him. They spend all of their free time together when possible.

Simply put, Himuro's already better than any other guy or girl and with him around, Murasakibara doesn't have the need or want for someone else.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "i'll try not to make updates slow" i said as i update TWO MONTHS LATER   
> pls forgive this trash author, i'm sorry for taking forever to post this chapter due to the fact i had a bout of writer's block and then lost motivation to write for awhile and then i ended up writing chapter 5 first??? and i decided i want a chapter before chapter 5 so i wrote this chapter - but enough with excuses 
> 
> can i just say that you guys are absolutely _insane_ and i cannot believe this story has gotten this many kudos/views/comments already?? I LOVE YOU ALL  <3 and special thanks to everyone who leaves wonderful comments that make my day! it means a lot ;n;
> 
> but because chapter 5 is already written, it'll be up ASAP after i finish editing :3


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm going to kill him!" a gruff voice shouts and Akashi looks up from his coversation with Kise and Himuro as does about half of all the other students, startled by the sudden interruption in their breakfast to see a furious Nijimura storm over to the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. It's the day before the Quidditch match and Nijimura comes over and slams a piece of parchment down on the table, sneering.  

"Guess who got himself suspended again! Right before the first match of the season and right after I specifically told him not too. I'm going to bash that punk's head in for good this time," Nijimura snarls and Akashi takes the parchment, a sense of impending dread. He lets out a guttural groans when he sees the familiar words "Due to unacceptable and unreasonable violent behavior at Hogwarts, Haizaki Shougo will be banned from all club activities for four weeks time." The words seem to laugh at him in their fancy calligraphy print. Where's your victory now, they seem to say.

Kise takes the paper from Akashi and wrinkles his nose when he reads it, about to open his mouth to comment before someone leans over him and snatches the parchment from Kise's hand. Kise turns around to see Hanamiya scanning the parchment.

"Fucking again?" Hanamiya growls and he tosses the paper back to Kise in disgust. "Tell him to stop messing up already."

"You don't think I've tried?" Nijimura snaps, his voice taut with anger as he crosses his arms. "Now who are we going to get play reserve Beater?"

"There's a second year-" Himuro pipes up after a moments pause between the Quidditch players.

"Oh no," Hanamiya leers. "A second year? You've got to be kidding me. All the second years flew like shit in the tryouts. They can't possibly help us win."

"He's not too bad," Himuro counters and Hanamiya only rolls his eyes in response. He mutters "just figure something out" before walking off again. Himuro turns towards the three of them. "His name's Tsuguwa," he continues and Akashi frowns.

"I remember him from tryouts. He's nowhere close to Haizaki's skill, yet he flew the best out of all the other hopeful Beaters. I'll send him a message soon, telling him to come to practice," Akashi sighs, crumpling the piece of parchment in his hand. "There is nothing we can do about this situation, although, this time, our victory may not be as predetermined as I would have liked."

 

Akashi ends up telling another second year to deliver the message to Tsuguwa, having no idea where to find the boy himself. It wasn't long before the news of Haizaki's suspension spread and the Slytherin students started giving sour looks to the Gryffindors as if it was their fault they lost a beater, bemoaning their possible first loss of the season. The other houses' students would whisper and point at members of the Quidditch team, shaking their head in pity as if they knew Slytherin was doomed and the members find themselves short of temper, aggravated by the fact they were being underestimated. _They could do find with Haizaki,_ Akashi thinks bitterly as he overhears a pair of Ravenclaws whispering about their absent beater. Akashi finds himself dozing off in class occasionally, drumming his fingers on the desk while he tries to formulate a new strategy to ensure victory now that their win - and his potential date with Kuroko - was at risk. The thought of beating some sense into Haizaki's head didn't sound too unpleasant either and for a second, he completely understood Nijimura.

"Does he even stop to think for himself? Of course he doesn't," Nijimura grumbles, slamming his textbook closed after class and shoving the book into his bag with more force than necessary.

"What's done is done," Himuro sighs, clapping him on the back and Nijimura scowls.

"That idiot's going to get himself expelled some day," Nijimura continues angrily. "Does he even care about his future?"

"Are you going to kick him off the team then?" Kise asks Akashi, who hesitates.

"I don't know. Probably. This is has already happened more times than any us would like," Akashi replies carefully, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

 

* * *

 

Kuroko's walking to the library when Aomine and Kagami come hurtling over to where he was, stopping in front him, breathless. Their papers are still sticking out from their bag and Kuroko guesses that they had come from class in a frenzy to catch him. They dangle a large red and gold Gryffindor scarf in front of Kuroko's face, much to his confusion.

"Tetsu!" Aomine calls excitedly and he holds the scarf out to Kuroko, who looks at it uncertainly.

"It's for you! For our upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin, you know? Since you're going to support Gryffindor, I thought you would want a scarf and we managed to find one of my old ones, so it might fit you," Kagami beams and Kuroko feels his heart warm at their consideration and then deflate for a minute as Akashi's words echo in his mind; this just made things more conflicting.

"Thank you very much, Aomine-kun, Kagami-kun, but you see...Akashi-kun asked me to come watch the Quidditch match and cheer him on as well. I told him I would make no promise to cheer for him, though. But it's okay. I'll support Gryff-" Kuroko explains, reaching for the scarf before he's interrupted midway when Aomine holds up a finger and he and Kagami share a knowing look. Then, Aomine bursts into fake sobs and Kuroko takes a step back in bewilderment.

"Tetsu, man, this is such an honor.." Aomine weeps, covering his face with his arm. "I can't believe you chose to support your friends over the shining love of your life. Bros before hoes, am I right? You're a true friend, Tetsu."

"What," Kuroko says, hand still hovering over the scarf and Kagami pats Kuroko on the shoulder.

"I can't believe you rejected Akashi for us, Kuroko. Thanks man, really."

"I-" Kuroko begins, but he's rudely cut off again by Aomine throwing himself over Kuroko, still putting on his teary display and Kuroko's starting to find this less and less amusing by the second.

"Please get off of me, Aomine-kun," Kuroko wheezes, staggering from Aomine's weight and Aomine pulls away from Kuroko. "I did not reject Akashi-"

"But you did! You did, you are a pioneer, Tetsu. you know how many people would kill for that? And you gave that chance up for us," Aomine sniffles and Kuroko narrows his eyes.

"First of all, love of my life? That is a bit extreme, don't you think? And also, I didn't..well... when you say it like that, it sounds a lot more harsh. I was simply conflicted since I knew you guys would have wanted me to cheer for Gryffindor, and with the scarf and all, I couldn't refuse," Kuroko explains, gesturing at the two of them, and the two Gryffindors share another knowing look.

"I don't think you understand the magnitude of this situation, Kuroko," Kagami says seriously, clasping a hand on Kuroko's shoulder and Aomine nods in agreement.

"This was probably your only chance to get in Akashi's pants, but don't worry, we'll definitely crush Slytherin-"

 Kuroko aims a kick at Aomine's ankle who lets out a hiss of pain, holding his ankle and Kuroko taps his foot impatiently while Kagami gives Aomine a concerned look.

"I'm starting to think I should support Slytherin instead," Kuroko snaps, but he snatches the scarf from Aomine huffily and stuffs it into his bag.

"Bros before hoes!" Aomine howls and Kuroko gives him a withering look before stalking off again.

 

* * *

 

On the day of the match, after standing half dressed in the dorm with the Gryffindor scarf in hand for a solid five minutes debating whether to wear it or not, Kuroko decides not to wear any scarf with hopes to appear neutral, uttering a silent apology to Kagami and Aomine before tucking the scarf away safely for next time. Though in the end, he sits next to Momoi on the Gryffindor half of the stands, Momoi absent of any house colors as well.

"I don't know who to cheer for either," Momoi admits as she smooths out her robes when Kuroko tells her of his troubles. "Ki-chan and Akashi-kun are both in Slytherin, but there's also Dai-chan, Kagamin and Takao-kun. I'm friends with all of them..."

"Cheer for both?" Kuroko suggests. The only time Kuroko grew more vocal than necessary was during Quidditch matches. He didn't want to disappoint his friends, but the conflict of who to cheer for posed a problem and he lets out a heavy sigh, biting his lip in a moment of indecision. A few rows away, Ogiwara stood in the commentator's box, waving at the two of them with an impish grin. Kuroko gives a small wave back and Momoi flashes a smile towards Ogiwara before leaning in to whisper something in Kuroko's ear.

"You might want to keep your eyes on Akashi-kun," Momoi whispers innocently before drawing away again. Kuroko doesn't have time to ask what she means before Ogiwara coughs, his voice magnified by a charm, to catch everyone's attention.

"Welcome to the Quidditch match everyone! It is the first one of the season; Slytherin against Gryffindor!" Ogiwara shouts and he waits as the stands burst into cheers and quiets down again before continuing. "And here comes the teams! Gryffindor comes out first, Aida Riko, the captain and Chaser, Aomine Daiki and Kasamatsu Yukio the two other Chasers,  Hyuuga Junpei and Kagami Taiga, their Beaters, Kiyoshi Teppei, the Keeper, and Takao Kazunari, the Seeker!" Ogiwara announces excitedly as half of the stadium sporting red scarves cheers. "Slytherin comes out next, Himuro Tatsuya, Hanamiya Makoto, and Kise Ryouta, their Chasers, Imayoshi Shoichi and Tomoki Tsugawa, substituting for Haizaki Shougo, the two Beaters, the former captain, Nijimura Shuuzou, the Keeper and the newly announced captain, and Seeker, Akashi Seijuro!" Even from afar in the stands, Kuroko can feel his face flush because Akashi looks very good in his Quidditch attire - much more attractive than anybody should. His green and silver robes flutter in the wind, embroidered with the number four for captainship on the back and his goggles currently resting on top of his head are pushed into his messy red locks that Kuroko wants to thread his fingers through. The teams fly around the stadium once before getting into position, the crowd silencing as it waits for the start of game.  

Alex walks onto the pitch carrying the box of balls and she releases the two Bludgers and the Snitch from the box, the enchanted balls flitting away. She takes out the Quaffle, tells the teams about playing a clean game and blows the whistle before throwing the Quaffle into the air.

"Madame Alex releases the Quaffle and the two teams are off!" Ogiwara shouts. "Kasamatsu grabs the Quaffle, passes it nicely to Aomine - oh, nice dodge from a Bludger - he's flying toward the goal now - he shoots - he SCORES! Gryffindor 10, Slytherin 0!" Ogiwara calls and the Gryffindor side of the stadium erupts into cheers at the fast goal, Kuroko included.

 

In the game, Akashi is impatiently circling around the pitch, trying to scan for signs of the golden Snitch. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the Gryffindor Seeker, Takao Kazunari, ascend higher to get a better view as well. Akashi makes sure to keep his concentration as Takao was famed for having an eye just as sharp as Akashi's. Slytherin would win and then maybe, he could ask Kuroko out on that date. The Slytherin supporters burst into cheers when Nijimura successfully blocked two shots - one from Riko and one from Aomine, and shortly after, Kise flies over and scores on Kiyoshi. Akashi doesn't pay much attention to the commentary or the crowd cheers, only scouring for a glint of gold, although he flits occasional glances at the scoreboard.

The game continues to be infuriatingly well matched: for every shot Gryffindor made, Slytherin made one as well, no surprise considering both teams were in top shape with good teams this year, minus Slytherin's currently absent Beater. Slytherin is winning at 60 to 50, with still no sign of the Snitch when suddenly, an unexpected comment floats over to Akashi's ears.

"What's this? Is Tsuguwa's broom malfunctioning? Slytherin's second year Beater seems to be having some difficulty!" Ogiwara exclaims and Akashi tears his gaze away from the pitch, eyes landing on the second year substituting for Haizaki and is horrified to see that his broom is bucking up and down, causing the poor second year to have to cling desperately to it. Akashi can tell that he's starting to slip and it's just a matter of seconds before Tsuguwa is only grabbing the broom by one hand, forced to drop his Beater bat. Everyone is shouting and pointing from the stadiums and Akashi clenches his jaw in frustration when he sees how much distance Tsuguwa has from the ground - a nasty fall, for sure. He looks back at the pitch and then bites his lip before letting out a hiss of annoyance, diving down from his spot above towards Tsuguwa.

"What is Akashi doing? He's stopped his search for the Snitch and is now headed to Tsuguwa? It appears that he's about to help him!" Ogiwara comments, clearly shocked by Akashi's sudden change of course himself. Akashi comes a sharp stop in front of the second year and reaches his hand out to Tsuguwa, who grabs Akashi's own desperately. Akashi hauls him up until he's at least seated on his broom again, and lets out a sigh of relief when he realizes that the broom has at least stopped malfunctioning for now, until Tsuguwa's eyes widen.

"Akashi-san!" he screams, cowering and looking behind Akashi. However, Akashi fails to react fast enough, turning around just in time to see a bludger fly towards him, colliding into the side of his head and suddenly he's falling off his broom - and it's the last thing he remembers.

* * *

 

Akashi can hear voices in the background. His eyes are still closed and his whole body feels heavy, not to mention he has a dull throbbing headache. It takes a few seconds for him to register that he's in the hospital wing, as his fingers brush over the rough hospital sheets and a few more to remember that he had fallen off his broom during the Quidditch match, internally slapping himself for being so careless.  He can hear rustling and people talking, not even bothering to keep their voices hushed and he guesses them to be his friends.

"Are you sure about this, Sa-chin?" a lazy voice drawls which Akashi makes out to be Murasakibara.

"Of course," Momoi replies cheerfully. "He doesn't even like half of these." It's followed by the sound of crinkling wrappers and Akashi finally opens his eyes in curiosity, shielding his eyes from the harsh light.

"Oh! Hey, look, Akashi-sama is awake," a voice teases, and he can make out Nijimura's hazy outline hovering over him.

"Don't call me that," Akashi groans, sitting up groggily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Nijimura, Momoi, Murasakibara and Kise were sitting around the hospital bed, Momoi tossing Nijimura a Cauldron Cake, and Akashi frowns.

"We lost," Nijimura says matter-of-factly, unwrapping the Cauldron Cake. "Don't beat yourself about it though. The Tsuguwa's kid fine and we're playing Ravenclaw in a few weeks, so we can win then and get back into the swing of things."

"Don't get so cocky, senpai! We Ravenclaws aren't going to let you win that easily!" Momoi reminds, bouncing up and down at the foot of Akashi's bed, but she's smiling and hands Kise a box of Honeydukes chocolate. "You don't mind right?" she asks, turning to Akashi. "I don't think you like that flavor anyways."

"Mind?" Akashi echoes in confusion and he turns his head to the side, where a night table currently contained a small mountain of confections and flowers.

"You had a shattered a rib cage, a broken arm, a concussion and a sprained ankle. You've been out for half a day. Magic _really_ works wonders," Momoi explains, reaching for a Pumpkin Pasty and handing it to Murasakibara. "All the girls went insane, you should have seen it!"  

"Akashi-sama! Akashi-sama!" Nijimura mocks in an absurdly high pitched voice and everyone bursts into laughter.

"To be fair though, Kuro-chin freaked out too," Murasakibara says lazily, taking another bite from a Chocolate Frog. "The only reason he's not here is because he has class. Kaga-chin and Mine-chin also dropped by and said they wanted a proper rematch in the future. Muro-chin visited earlier too," the giant yawns and Akashi groans, dropping his head into his hands.

"I forgot that Tetsuya was watching," he bemoans, running a hand through his messy bed hair. "This is so pathetically embarrassing."

"I thought it was kind of cute," Kise chimes in. "The way Kurokocchi was freaking out, he was so concerned. He came running down to the pitch and everything."

"This plan of yours has backfired in every single way, Satsuki," Akashi accuses, swinging his head towards her with a glare and Momoi shrugs innocently, reaching for another bar of Honeyduke's chocolate before Akashi slaps her hand away. "I like that flavor, you can have the white chocolate."

"To be fair, now you know you must be real special because Tetsu-kun didn't even run down to the pitch when Dai-chan or Ki-chan fell -" at this, Kise makes a pained noise and Akashi looks conflicted between being pleased and embarrassed - "although they didn't take such a nasty fall either. This is the first time something like this has happened to you, though. I still can't believe you helped Tsuguwa-kun out even when you were in a bad position to do so," Momoi frowns, pointing at Akashi with her chocolate bar. Akashi looks down at his lap modestly.

"Oh! Homework," Kise says suddenly, digging into his bag and taking out a few scrolls which he places on Akashi's night stand. "Not a lot. I managed to get this girl to let me duplicate her notes, so there's that."

"What did you bribe them with this time?" Nijimura snorts, rolling his eyes.

"I signed her copy of Witch Weekly," Kise replies, matter of factly.

"I wish you were joking," Nijimura sighs, shaking his head. The door to the hospital wing swings open with a slam and two tall boys donning Ravenclaw robes march in, one of them carrying a stuffed owl.

"Reo, Shintarou," Akashi acknowledges, giving a small wave. He gestures to the pile of chocolate next to his bed stand. "Thank you for visiting. Help yourself, by the way."

They ignore him and Midorima sniffs, striding over to Akashi and pushing his glasses up before dangling the large stuffed owl in front of Akashi's face. The owl, under some enchantment, gives a hoot, ruffles its feathers in Akashi's face and Akashi pushes it away.

"What are you -" Akashi wants to ask, but he interrupts himself with a sneeze "doing, Shintarou?"

"It's your lucky item of the day, clearly. You were ranked second to last for horoscopes yet you didn't even bother bringing a lucky item to such an important day," Midorima lectures, unimpressed. He drops the owl in Akashi's lap.

"You still read those Muggle horoscopes?" Akashi asks in amusement, picking up the owl and poking its stomach. Shintarou tells him he's a Sagittarius, whatever that means. Despite being a pureblood, Midorima had always had an interest in Muggle things and their way of life and there so happened to be a daily blurb in the Quibbler run by some Muggle-born wizard that posted the horoscopes Midorima had been following religiously since their first year. "Thank you," he says sincerely and Midorima lets out a 'hmph' in return.

"You don't understand my pain, the dorm is full of Shin-chan's.. _things_ -" Reo says exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Lucky items. They are _lucky items,_ " Midorima interjects defensively. "I keep spares in case idiots like _him_ -" Midorima says, gesturing to Akashi who grumbles _'I beat you in chess, regularly, Shintarou',_ "decided they would ignore fate which ultimately lead up to their demise."

"Present tense, please, Shintarou. Please don't talk like I'm dead," Akashi says amicably.

"But still Sei-chan, it's most unlike you to get injured! You are incredibly selfless at the wrong times," Reo sighs dramatically, crossing his arms and Akashi smiles slightly.

"I appreciate your concern, Reo," Akashi says and the owl gives a hoot as well. Reo's expression softens for a minute and he leans in to check Akashi's temperature, pressing his hand to his forehead before kissing Akashi's forehead as if he were a child who needed reassurance. The door to the hospital wing opens again and a short blue haired boy in Hufflepuff robes walks in, the nurse following him hastily. She looks around and lets out an impatient sigh.

"Only six visitors at a time, Kuroko-kun!" the nurse reprimands sharply and Kuroko stops in his tracks, surprised at how many people were visiting Akashi at the time. He turns around and bows his head in apology to the nurse but Reo interrupts.

"No worries, Kuro-chan," he says smoothly. "I have to go now, I simply dropped by in between classes to visit Sei-chan." He clasps Kuroko on the shoulder and sweeps past him, out the door.

The rest of them catch on, sending subtle nods to each other and Nijimura clears his throat.

"Well, Kise and I have to go to beat Haizaki's head in," he announces and he hauls Kise up by the back of his robes.

"Where are we actually going, senpai?" Kise whispers and Nijimura gives Kise a warning look.

"Did you think I was joking?" Nijimura asks, raising an eyebrow and Kise's mouth forms an 'o'. "I'm just kidding, we have Charms anyways." On that note, the two of them leave, Nijimura giving a one hand wave and Kise flashing a not-so-inconspicuous thumbs up towards Akashi.

"Ah! Midorin and I have...Astronomy!" Momoi cries out as well and she grabs Midorima's hand, pulling him towards the door. "We'll be going now! See you later, guys!"

"You don't even take Astronomy," Midorima mutters under his breath, but he doesn't bother protesting as Momoi drags him away.

"I'm meeting Muro-chin in the kitchens," Murasakibara excuses, stretching his arms and letting out a loud yawn. "I'll see you later, Kuro-chin, Aka-chin."

"Oh..well...that works then." The nurse blinks in surprise at their sudden exit and she excuses herself, retreating back into her office.

Murasakibara leaves dutifully with his chocolate, leaving Kuroko and Akashi alone, Kuroko standing awkwardly at the foot of Akashi's bed. Something in his chest flutters when he sees that Kuroko still has his bag with him, meaning he must have come to the hospital wing - come to see him - right after class.

"Uhm," Kuroko mumbles, shuffling his feet and looking away. "It's good to see you awake, Akashi-kun. I'm guessing you feel better then?"

"Yes, thank you for your concern," Akashi replies, scratching the back of his neck. "Well..this certainly is embarrassing," he chuckles. "After all my big talk about winning and taking you on a date, I am here in the hospital wing after being knocked off my broom, earning Slytherin its first loss of the season."

Kuroko frowns. "I think it was very noble...and unexpected..of you to try to save Tsuguwa from the fall."

"Reo says I am most selfless at the worst times," Akashi smiles sheepishly, repeating what the Ravenclaw had said.

"Nevertheless, there goes your date." Akashi feels his whole body droop at Kuroko's words.  No mercy, huh, Kuroko, he thinks.

"Oh." Akashi wants to crawl under his covers and never show his face again but he leans back against the wall, trying to play it off cool. It didn't matter - no - of course it mattered, that was, probably his one and only chance and now Kuroko probably thought he was lamer than lame. He's internally fretting, but he gives Kuroko a half smile, hoping he wouldn't catch on.

"Slytherin plays Ravenclaw in a few weeks, do you not?" Kuroko asks, tilting his head to the side. Akashi nods in reply.

"If you win then, you can take me out on a date then," Kuroko offers. "Plus, I think I'll be cheering for Slytherin, apologies to Momoi-san and Midorima-kun."

Akashi can feel his heart race with excitement. "T-that..sounds nice. I'll be sure to win, then," Akashi says, his confidence returning and he hopes Kuroko doesn't notice how he had embarrassingly fumbled his words. Kuroko walks over closer, sitting down on the stool Momoi had previously occupied. He quirks an eyebrow and reaches his hand out to touch Akashi's hair, and for a second, Akashi's heart stops. Kuroko retracts his hand and holds up a feather in amusement, a questioning expression on his face.

"It's the owl," Akashi explains, gesturing the snowy white owl on his lap. "A stuffed owl from Shintarou to be precise. Apparently my lucky item of the day."

The owl raises its wings and ruffles its feathers again. "It's enchanted," Akashi chortles at Kuroko's alarmed expression when the stuffed toy had moved. "I assume stuffed toys do not move in the Muggle world?" Kuroko nods, marvelling at the owl. Akashi lifts up the owl and holds it in front of Kuroko, dropping it in his lap like Midorima had done.

"For you," Akashi says graciously and Kuroko pauses, looking hesitantly at the owl.

"I don't know if I should..Midorima-kun gave it to you..I couldn't possibly...I mean I haven't done anything," Kuroko stammers.

"Consider it a gift of my gratitude then," Akashi shrugs. "I'm thankful for your concern about me," he clarifies. "Ryouta told me you ran down to the pitch when you saw me fall," he smirks. Kuroko's jaw drops open and he mutters 'Kise-kun is a traitor' under his breath, his face flushing red.

* * *

 

After half the stadium had burst into screams, Ogiwara shouting about Akashi falling off his broom, Kuroko had pushed past the horrified spectators in the stands, Momoi trailing after him as he descended from the bleachers and out on the field. Takao had caught the Snitch shortly after Akashi's fall, earning Gryffindor the win and Kuroko had rushed onto the field over to Akashi's motionless body. His broom had rolled off to the side and he had fallen on his side, goggles askew, mud splattered all over his uniform and dirty strands of hair falling into his face. Kuroko had never reacted so strong before to any of his other friends falls: not when Aomine crashed into the goal post last year, not when Kise had crash landed into the stands when he forgot to brake and not when Ogiwara had been unable to pull out of a dive for the Snitch but none of them had ever fallen some twenty meters out of the air before either. Kuroko exhales in relief when he sees the faint rise and fall of Akashi's chest and he tentatively reaches his hand out to feel for Akashi's heartbeat.

The Slytherin team lands next to Akashi's fallen body, grumbling disheartedly and Kuroko retracts his hand hastily as if burned, looking away in embarrassment.

"What a nasty fall," Imayoshi comments, surveying Akashi's limp form and Tsuguwa stands next to him, gripping his broom tightly, white as sheet as he apologizes over and over.

"Quit your yammering! Your name isn't Sakurai Ryo is it?" Hanamiya barks to Tsuguwa and the boy lets out a whimper, shrinking behind Imayoshi. "Akashi, that idiot, what was he thinking?" Hanamiya grumbles. "He shouldn't have tried to help you."

"I'm sure Akashi won't blame you," Himuro says kindly, turning towards Tsuguwa who nods nervously in reply.

"We should get Akashicchi to the hospital wing now," Kise chimes in, bending down next to Kuroko. He digs through the pocket of his robes for his wand and rids all the dirt on Akashi's uniform with a simple incantation.

"I'll carry him," Nijimura volunteers, handing his broom over to Himuro and he picks up Akashi bridal style; Kuroko can't help but be amused by this, sure that if he was awake, Akashi would have thrown a fit about being carried like such.

"He'll be fine, Kurokocchi," Kise says when he sees the concerned look on Kuroko's face as he watches Nijimura walk away slow. "Akashicchi's tough after all and it'll take much more than one fall to end him. You should probably get going, though, everyone's leaving the stands and we have to head back to the locker room anyways." He inclines his head towards the other members of the Slytherin Quidditch team, already starting to walk away and Kuroko nods silently in understanding, turning around and heading back to the edge of the pitch where Momoi was standing.

 

* * *

 

"Regardless, I'm flattered by your concern," Akashi repeats, snapping Kuroko out of his thoughts.

"But still," Kuroko argues and Akashi puts up a finger to silence him, an idea coming to mind.

"Then I'll settle for an 'I owe you' from you."

Kuroko's about to object - being in Akashi's debt seemed a bit unsettling to him - especially since the matter was over an enchanted stuffed owl of all things - when the owl hoots, as if in agreement. "That settles that," Akashi smirks victoriously and Kuroko's jaw drops opens.

"Traitor of an owl," Kuroko mutters crossly, but he hugs the owl closer to him anyways.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okkk im sorry i ended up posting this a bit late too because im awful, forgive me OTL but hopefully the fact it's longer compensates for that..and the lack of akakuro for the past two chapters was because of this one super long one ;D
> 
> THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW WHY I AM SO FOND OF AKASHI GETTING INJURED IN THE PROCESS OF HELPING HIS TEAMMATES i love it (shoutout to aokazusei for guessing that akashi would get injured back in chapter 2) 
> 
> a few things to note:  
> 1) it's close to impossible to survive a fall twenty meters out of the air BUT this is ~magic~ so plot holes. although seeing as how high the goal posts already are (about 30 feet i believe) and how often players probably fall off their brooms, i've always had a headcanon of sorts that the ground is enchanted to make falls a bit easier/so their guts dont splatter every where  
> 2) not to mention akashi is akashi his ego might have helped cushion the fall sorry akashi bby ily  
> 3) magic is wonderful and everything is healed within hours. i love it. 
> 
> AND HOW DID THIS REACH 400 KUDOS WHAT EVEN I'M SCREAMING ???? DIDN'T THIS HAVE LIKE 320 WHEN I POSTED THE LAST CHAPTER, YOU GUYS ARE SERIOUSLY SURREAL *cries* thank you all so much!! and a big shout out to those people who leave such nice comments, i hope you know every time i smile like an idiot and it makes my day, so thank you :3


	6. Chapter 6

After Kuroko leaves, Akashi's left alone in the hospital wing again. He tries going back to sleep, but to no avail. He picks at the hospital sheets, resigned to complete boredom, watching the clock hands tick by slowly. His headache was mostly gone and after pressing his chest and moving the other bandaged parts of his body, he doesn't feel like any part of his body is still broken. He glances at the clock: it had been an hour and a half since Kuroko had left and Akashi was not about to subject himself to more boredom so he quietly starts to get out of bed, wondering if he'd able to slip out of the hospital wing. He gets halfway to the door when the nurse comes back in with his medicine and her expression turns from an amiable one to a furious one when she sees Akashi trying to escape.

"Akashi-kun! _What in the world do you think you're doing?_ Get back in bed this instant!" she thunders.

"But I'm ready to be discharged, really, I don't feel any more pain, ma'am," Akashi says earnestly.

"You're not getting discharged until I say so!" the nurse snaps, pointing back at the bed and Akashi sighs resignedly, murmuring apologies while walking back to bed. The nurse bustles around, checking his injuries and handing Akashi a glass of medicine to drink. The murky, clumping purple liquid is more than enough to make him wary but he gulps the disgusting liquid down obediently, making a displeased face at the taste that was just as horrific as the liquid looked like.

He's about to return to bed when the hospital door slams open and Midorima walks back again, this time with Takao in tow. The nurse's expression pinches when she hears the loud door slam, looking ready to reprimand the offender but when he sees the two boys walking towards Akashi's bed, her expression changes to one of relief.

"Oh good, the two of you are his friends, are you not? the nurse asks. "Make sure this young man doesn't get out of bed," she sniffs and Takao salutes _'yes ma'am_ '. The nurse leaves them.  

"Wonderful, I can leave now," Akashi says, sighing in relief. He turns away from the bed and walking towards the door

"Ah, ah, ah!" Takao reprimands, taking Akashi by the shoulders and steering him back towards the bed. "You heard that the nurse said! Besides," he says, as he's shoving Akashi back onto his bed "you don't have any clothes besides the hospital gown right now, to change into."

Once Akashi is forced back onto the bed, Takao clambers onto the bed himself, sitting unceremoniously on Akashi's chest. "There."

Akashi lets out a choked gasp at the weight, trying to push Takao off, but his efforts proved to be fruitless when Takao showed no signs of budging, only laughing gleefully.

"Kazunari, get off of me, my ribcage was just mended and you're crushing me," Akashi wheezes. "Please help me, Shintarou—"

Midorima, on the other hand, seemed to be delighting in Akashi's pain until he noticed the absence of the stuffed owl.

"Where's your lucky item, Akashi?" he frowns and Akashi opens his mouth guiltily.

"I, ah, gave it to Kuroko," he admits and Midorima's eyes widen.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed!? Without your lucky item, you could _die._ "

"Please get Kazunari off of me or I _will_ die," Akashi pleads. "Kazunari, I can't _breathe—_ "

"You deserve it!" Midorima snaps, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "It was the death of the fool who ignored fate, nanodayo."

_"Present tense please!"_

"Shin-chan is so cruel," Takao remarks, as if he wasn't currently crushing all of Akashi's ribs with that innocent smile. He finally gets off of Akashi who lets out a sigh of relief, massaging his chest and aching ribs. "Have you learned your lesson, Sei-chan?"

"Yes," Akashi replies, his voice muffled by the pillow he had buried his head in. "Thanks _so_ much for nearly killing me."

"Shame that Takao didn't actually kill you."

"Ice cold, Shin-chan. Anyways. _Hogsmeade_ ," Takao announces, flopping down on the stool. "Since you totally lost your chance of a date, you wanna hang out with us?" Takao grins, jerking his thumb towards Midorima. Akashi turns his head and opens one eye, looking at them.

"Sure," Akashi mumbles. "A poor substitute for Tetsuya, but I suppose the two of you will do."

 

* * *

 

"Why are we here?" Akashi asks for the third time. He stands warily to the side of the old antique shop as Midorima eagerly picked up items, adding them to the accumulating mass of junk in his bag. Takao cackles gleefully as he inspects various contraptions that crammed the shelves. It became apparent that they were the only students to step into the rundown antique shop on the desolate side of Hogsmeade, and definitely the only ones that had any intention to purchase anything. The shelves in the store are stacked to the roof and overflowing with the most obscure objects that Akashi eyes suspiciously.

"Lu-cky i-tems," Takao sings, stressing each syllable as he picks up a twisted toy with _'BOP IT'_ painted on the front in ugly neon letters. "I haven't seen one of these in ages! Twist it, bop it, man, can you believe Muggles gives something with these innuendos to children?"

"Children aren't crass like you," Midorima says shortly from the other side of the room.

"Muggles are strange," Akashi agrees. "What is...this?" Akashi picks up a tube from the counter, examining it with slight interest. He had more familiarity with Muggle life than most other purebloods of heritage like his own but there was a never a day where he ceased to discover something about Muggles that greatly puzzled him.

"A flashlight," Takao explains, pointing to the button on the side of the tube. "Push that and you get light!"

Akashi follows his instructions and a beam of light appears from the tube. He furrows his brow, waving the 'flashlight' around in fascination, watching the light follow it.

"Interesting," Akashi says, raising an eyebrow. "It's like a 'Lumos' spell for Muggles."

"Mmmm, more inconvenient, though. You need batteries and sometimes they run out so that means no more light," Takao hums. In the middle of Takao's explanation of 'batteries', Midorima interrupts by walking over and shoving a hideous hat onto Akashi's head.

"My lucky item?" Akashi asks, unfazed and he removes the hat to examine it. It certainly must have seen better days. It was a mottled brown, and its current state seemed as if it could rival the Sorting Hat's age. Purple flowers adorned the sides, the limp pieces of fabric decorations clinging pathetically to the hat by the last threads.  "I'm not wearing this, Shintarou."

"Why are you so content on tempting fate?" Midorima sighs, taking the hat back from Akashi. "If you would just consider it, Oha Asa might be able to aid you in your hopeless love life."

" _My_ hopeless love life," Akashi repeats incredulously, turning his head towards Takao and staring at him in disbelief. The raven haired boy shrugs with a look that said _'tell-me-about-it'._

"Shintarou," Akashi says slowly. "If a person could die of hypocrisy, you would be the first to go."

"What are you implying, Akashi?" Midorima huffs, pushing his glasses up and Akashi palms his head in his hands.  

"You are," Akashi says in exasperation, "denser than a bag of bricks."

"Me? Have you seen yourself? I hear stories from Momoi you know—"

"Oooh? _Stories?_ Sei-chan, what aren't you telling us?" Takao asks, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Akashi shoves him.

"No! Shut up! Satsuki is a liar, don't listen to her—!"

"—took you weeks to try to smooth talk Kuroko and in the end, Momoi still had to push you to the library to try to as Kuroko out—"

"Shintarou, stop talking or I will hex you-"

"—thought about confessing to Kuroko with cheesy poetry, tried to ask him out on a date through a Quidditch match but yet you lost, not to mention you still thought Kuroko had no interest in you when the boy clearly loses all composure and starts blushing when you are within a ten feet proximity, and yet you call me dense," Midorima concludes.

"You _are_ dense," Akashi mutters, Takao cackling in the background.

"Let's compromise and say that the both of you are absolutely hopeless," Takao says, wiping away a fake tear.

"And what about you?" Midorima asks, miffed.

"Me?" Takao asks in mock surprise, pointing to himself. "I'm a Seer with romance."

Akashi stares at him in disbelief for a moment before breaking into laughter.

"I take it back," Akashi wheezes through peals of laughter. "If a person could die of hypocrisy, Kazunari would be the first to go."

 

* * *

 

"Kise, slow down!" Kasamatsu huffs as he hurries after the blonde down the streets of Hogsmeade. "The shops aren't going anywhere!"

"But if we don't hurry, all the tables in the Three Broomsticks will be full!" Kise wheedles, pointing at the quickly crowding shop at the end of the street.

Kasamatsu gives Kise _'the look'_ , mixed with annoyance and fondness, before sighing and giving in. "Alright. Race?"

Kise's eyes light up and he lets go of his hold of Kasamatsu's wrist, and as soon as he does, the two of them start a rapid sprint to the shop. When they reach the store, they can barely stop in time, squeezing through the door and nearly losing their balance as they skid to a halt, narrowly avoiding knocking over a few other students.

Originally, this hadn't been Kasamatsu's plan at all. He had been planning to stay at Hogwarts and do some homework, hang out around the library or something, and grab his broom to go practice out on the Quidditch pitch. But Kise, like he's done with almost everything else in Kasamatsu's life, interferes in the annoyingly endearing way that he does. As soon as Kise heard about Kasamatsu's plans, he had been adamant in rearranging them and dragging Kasamatsu to Hogsmeade, if needed.

"I'm not going on the trip," Kasamatsu said flatly, turning down Kise's offer immediately. Going to Hogsmeade was one thing. Going with Kise spelled some kind of disaster, probably.

"Aw, senpai, please?" Kise implored, golden eyes wide, his bottom lip jutting out as he tries to put on his winning puppy dog face. He clasps his hands together in front of him in a sort of desperate plea. Kasamatsu snorts, trying to act indifferent and pretend that puppy dog eyes rendered ineffective on him. But he's always been a terrible actor, and the way his eyes waver uncertainly and his fingers curl and uncurl in hesitation are a big enough clue about the soft he harbors for his juniors.

"Geez! Quit looking at me like that," the older Gryffindor rubs the back of his neck with his other hand, looking distinctly uncomfortable and that's when Kise knows he's won. "Fine."

"Hooray!" Kise cheers, pumping his fist in the air.

And that was how Kasamatsu had found himself running along the streets of Hogsmeade and squeezing into the crowded pub with Kise. He's slightly uncomfortable with the mass of students and how close they all are, trying his hardest to edge away. The loud chatter doesn't help much either, but Kise, who's always been keener than most give him credit for, knows all about Kasamatsu's discomfort and steers him towards one of the quieter, isolated corners of the pub.

A waitress sets down two glasses of Butterbeer in front of them and Kise pays for the drinks before Kasamatsu can even protest or get out his own money.

"I really like hanging around with you, senpai," Kise grins, cupping the mug of Butterbeer with both hands.

"Yeah, same to you," Kasamatsu says, coughing awkwardly. "So, what did you drag me out here for?"

The smile dims slightly and Kise bites his lip. "You really do think poorly of me. Maybe I just want to hang around you for a day!"

"Kise. You know that's not what I mean. I'm not accusing you of using me only when you need me or something. What I'm saying is that you're acting weird."

"Ah..senpai really is sharper about emotions than he lets on!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kasamatsu asks, affronted.

"I was wondering," Kise begins slowly before scrunching up his face and smiling again. "Well, uh, nevermind! It's fine."

Kasamatsu narrows his eyes and Kise takes an innocent sip of his Butterbeer. "Really, it's fine," Kise repeats. "I decided I don't need to ask anymore."

"How could this smile ever lie to you, senpai?" Kise smiles, putting on a million dollar smile and Kasamatsu frowns. He's known Kise since the blonde's first year, despite the two of them being in different houses with personalities that were the complete opposite of each other. He's seen Kise's surprised face, like when he was first Sorted into Slytherin, his crying face when he lost his first Quidditch match, his smiling face when Slytherin first won the Quidditch cup; he's seen a myriad of Kise's emotions. And he knows that that particular bright smile of Kise's lies a lot.

"If you say so," Kasamatsu replies dubiously.

"You know it's funny how we're getting drinks together," Kise says, changing the topic. Kasamatsu watches him swirl his drink around in his mug. "Since we're supposed to be rivals and all."

"Do you mean by Gryffindor beating Slytherin in that Quidditch match after Akashi injured himself and all of Slytherin being disheartened by it?"

"Not exactly. Well, yeah, that too. But you know. A Slytherin and Gryffindor."

"You know that there are only a few people that take the whole house enemies thing seriously, right?" Kasamatsu says flatly. "Do you not see your whole jumbled group of friends?"

"I know that!" Kise protests. "I'm not saying I promote the houses being enemies or anything, but, ah well, nevermind. I'm being silly."

"You're saying an awful lot of 'neverminds' today."

"Ahh, it makes me happy when you pay attention to my actions!" Kise teases, brightening up again.

 _Liar,_ Kasamatsu thinks quietly. _What's bothering you, Kise?_

 

* * *

 

"Kagami-kun, hurry up," Kuroko hisses, tugging at the sleeves of Kagami's cloak. He points down to the alleyway between two buildings on the more dubious side of Hogsmeade. But neither of them have time to be picky. "The stakes are high, here!" They sprint down the alleyway, only to hit a dead end and a couple of dumpsters.

"Kuroko, what kind of plan is this—" Kagami grits.

"Eyes, Kagami-kun, where are your eyes?" Kuroko pants, pointing at the rusty ladder that climbed up the side of one building, all the way up to the roof. "Let's go."

 _Nevermind the fact that ladder looked like it was on its last limbs,_ Kagami laments. The paint had mostly been scraped off, leaving rusted metal and creaky steps, some missing, some crooked. But he knows that it isn't time to be picky. Kuroko climbs up first, the ladder groaning slightly at his weight and as soon as he scrambles on top of the roof and disappears out of sight, Kagami climbs up after him, grimacing whenever he hears the ladder creaking.

When he reaches the top, he clambers on top of the roof and finds himself looking down at the streets of Hogsmeade. It's a sea of cloaks and colored scarves. However, among the throng of students, Kagami considers them awfully lucky that Aomine and Momoi's hair colors stuck out like sore thumbs from the black Hogwarts robes. Not that he and Kuroko were any more discreet.

"This is genius, Kuroko," Kagami praises, ruffling Kuroko's hair. "We're totally going to beat them with a plan like this! They'll never even notice what's coming."

"Of course, Kagami-kun," Kuroko smiles. "Revenge is in order, after all. After our spectacular losing streak last year."

The two of them shiver as they remember the different penalties both of them had to go through: drinking love potion, eating only pudding for their meals until both of them were vomiting pudding in the bathrooms, flirting stupidly with the moving portraits, touching the knot of the Whomping Willow's trunk, to name a few.

The game had first started in their third year as a friendly game of tag around the Hogsmeade village on their weekend trips. Soon, though, the game had lost its friendly vibe and they were risking everything, playing the game as if their lives were on the line. It had become their little tradition; while other students browsed Honeydukes and Zonkos and drank butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, the four of them sprinted around the village, firing spells into the crowds, pushing through students and sometimes misfiring at their targets: it was an ultimate survival game.

"Hey, Kuroko! I see them!" Kagami points, nudging Kuroko and grabbing a hold of his head when he fails to see what Kagami has seen, and jerking it in the correct direction. A blue and pink head of hair hurtle out of a shop, and into the streets where they weave through students. They wouldn't even see it coming until it hit them, Kagami thinks gleefully.

"Let's go, Kagami-kun!"

* * *

 

"Satsuki, hurry your slow self up! You're going to screw us over!" Aomine yells, tugging Momoi through the crowded streets of Hogsmeade. He weaves expertly around conversing friend groups and walking passerbys: a talent he's honed from running away from teachers in the halls of the castle. He makes a beeline to the Quidditch supply store, throwing the door open and pushing Momoi in first. "Come on, come on, come on," he chants, scrambling into the store after her and the minute that they're both in the store, Aomine slams the door closed, fumbling to get his wand out of his pocket and muttering all the lock spells he can think of.

He pushes Momoi onto the floor and drops down next to her, letting out a long sigh of relief at finally being able to breathe easy for a couple of minutes. They peer precariously through the window of the shop, ducking down whenever they think they see Kagami and Kuroko, carefully scanning the streets.

"What in the wo— you kids again?" the shop owner asks, as he peers out of the storeroom, his arms laden with boxes and his glasses slipping down his nose. "Playing that game of yours again? Locking up my store is bad business you know. I thought you were some robber, at first, judging by the commotion you made."

"It's a matter of life and death, Yoshida-san," Aomine says solemnly, not turning away from the windows. "The losers have to steal from Shirogane's potions stock and give up their dessert for two weeks."

"Uh huh," Yoshida hums in amusement, retreating back into the store room. "You kids are going to be the death of me."

"Yoshida-san, you're the best," Momoi says earnestly.

"You're our secret weapo—ohhh! Satsuki, I see them, I see Kagami's red hair!"

"Wha—where I can't see—"

"Let's go!"

Aomine tugs Momoi out of the shop without waiting, shouting hasty thanks to Yoshida and nearly kicking the door open as he hurtles through the streets, pushing through students and once the students have finally gained enough sense to open the way for him, Aomine raises his wand. "Aguamenti!"

Water shoots out of the tip of his wand, spraying his target head on, followed by a series of curses. And oh, that didn't sound like Kagami. Or Kuroko, Aomine thinks. Shit.

When the stream of water dies, Aomine and Momoi are left, standing stupidly in front of a Midorima trying hard to conceal his laughter, a cackling Takao who had long had given up trying to hide his, and a soaking wet Akashi.

 _"A-Akashi!?"_ Aomine and Momoi shriek in unison.

"Holy shit," Takao says.

"Indeed," Midorima agrees.

"What the hell," Akashi says. There seems to be something akin to murder glinting in his eyes.

"Dai-chan you moron!" Momoi yells. "Kagamin and Akashi-kun don't even the same shadeof red hair!"

"Wha—I'm sorry!! We weren't targeting you or anything, I swear! We were just trying to get Kagami and Tetsu —"

"Aguamenti!" someone shouts from behind Aomine and Momoi. The two of them shriek, leaping aside when a jet of cold water hits their backs.

"Kuroko, we got 'em!" Kagami shouts in excitement, somewhere still concealed in the crowd of students, pumping his fist in the air. "Hell yeah! Take that!"

"Fuck," Aomine groans, dropping to his knees in defeat.

 _"Why,"_ Momoi wails.

Kagami and Kuroko come into view, fist bumping each other at their victory.

"It's their game," Takao explains, trying to explain through his laughter. "You know, the one where they race through Hogsmeade and try to catch the others with some spell or something. The infamous one, where lots of innocent souls get mixed up."

"Suckers, have fun with your punishment!" Kagami teases. "First victory of the year goes to me and Kuroko!"

"I don't deserve this," Akashi mutters under his breath.

"Akashi-kun, we're sorry," Momoi says miserably.

"Don't worry about it, Satsuki," Akashi says kindly. Then his voice sharpens. "Daiki, I'm going to knock the living daylights out of you."

"What t— this is a clear, unfair bias!"

"Who fired the spell again?" Akashi asks innocently and Aomine holds his hands up in defeat. Akashi takes off his cloak, beginning to wring it dry with a distasteful look.

"You guys look sort of off," Momoi comments, gesturing towards Takao,Midorima, and Akashi, tilting her head to the side as she surveys the three boys.

"Besides the fact that I'm soaked and Kazunari's stomach hurts from laughing too hard?" Akashi asks.

"Well, yes."

"You're right," Midorima sniffs. "Akashi laughed for a whole five minutes, just moments before—"

"No way," Aomine says in awe, looking at Akashi. "You feeling alright?"

"You're absolutely right, Shintarou, Daiki," Akashi says, voice dripping with sarcasm, "five minutes of laughing? That is well past my limit. That's enough laughing for a week. Maybe even a month."

"We got kicked out of Shin-chan's dear antique shop," Takao sums up and Midorima huffs at this, crossing his arms. Back in the shop, after Akashi had started laughing at Takao, Takao had taken the liberty to leap across the tables, scattering items everywhere as he snatched the mangled hat of Midorima's hands. He then proceeded to attempt to strangle Akashi with it.

Their scuffle and commotion had not pleased the shop owner and they had been kicked out of the shop, the door slamming in their faces.

"But revenge is sweet," Takao winks, gesturing to Akashi's soaked state. He high fives Aomine and Akashi groans.

 

Kagami doesn't know what exactly happened to Akashi but the best bet is that Aomine had mistaken his red hair for Kagami himself and accidentally landed himself his own death sentence a couple decades too early. Kuroko, who was giggling at their victory minutes ago, was now quiet and staring.

"Kuroko," Kagami hisses, jabbing the other boy's ribs. "Are you ok?"

"Not really, no," Kuroko breathes out. "Kagami-kun, this is true victory. Akashi-kun is wearing _Muggle_ clothes under his cloak."

"Uh," Kagami says, not really understanding the deal about it. Nor how it related to the totally awesome feeling of completely crushing Aomine after that bastard and Momoi had won three times in a row in their last year. There were plenty of students who chose to switch to Muggle attire on Hogsmeade trips. It was nothing new. "Yeah?"

Kuroko makes a strangled noise. " _Wet_ , Muggle clothes. Kagami-kun, you just don't understand—"

"Yeah, I really don't," Kagami says flatly. He looks back at Akashi who looks like a drowned cat and just as annoyed as one and wonders what kind of rose tinted lens Kuroko was looking through to make him view Akashi as the hottest man alive. Akashi's gray v-neck — was that what those shirts were called? — was hanging off his frame, sure, and he was wearing black jeans. Hooray? "Oi, Kuroko, snap out of it."

"Is Tetsu okay?" Aomine asks cautiously, as he notices the lack of commentary from either of the two winners.

"No, I, uh," Kagami fibs, trying to think of an excuse for Kuroko, "think he's just — thirsty! Yeah, Kuroko's really thirsty."

"Yeah," Aomine agrees slowly as his gaze travels between Akashi and Kuroko, "yeah, he _really_   is..."

"We could go to the Three Broomsticks for a drink?" Momoi offers. "And also to warm up." She grimaces.

"Oh, wait," Kagami says, shrugging off his own cloak. "You can have my cloak, Momoi."

"I'm cold too," Aomine points out hopefully.

He's ignored.

After a moment's hesitation, Kuroko takes off his cloak as well. "Heh, Tetsu, thank—"

"—Akashi-kun, you can have my cloak. I mean, if you want..."

Akashi blinks in surprise before tentatively reaching out to take the cloak from Kuroko. "Thank you very much, Tetsuya," he beams and Kuroko mumbles a ' _you're welcome'_ before scrambling back next to Kagami. Kuroko's trying hardest to remain composed and Aomine wants to cry because it's all so gay and cute and he's so very cold.

"Tetsu! What happened to bros before hoes?" Aomine says.

"My cloak is too small for you anyway."

"To the Three Broomsticks we go!" Takao declares.

 

* * *

 

With difficulty, their whole group manages to squeeze into the Three Broomsticks and find themselves a spot by pushing two tables together. Akashi, Midorima, and Takao are seated on one side, Momoi, Aomine, Kuroko, and Kagami squashed together on the other.

"Ow, your elbow keeps jabbing my ribs, Kagami, you bastard," Aomine grumbles, when Kagami tries to edge away from Aomine as he was still unpleasantly damp and shivering, despite being closest to the fire.

They order seven Butterbeers and Kuroko declares that because Aomine and Momoi lost, it was only fair that they should pay for his and Kagami's drinks as well.

"That's not fair! It's not part of the penalty this time," Aomine complains. "Plus, I'm broke."

"Aomine-kun, you always say you're broke but you bought new Quidditch gear last week."

"Which is why I'm now broke!"

"Aomine-kun..."

"Fine, fine." Aomine fishes through his pockets to fumble for change. He pulls out several Sickles and Knuts, and only one Galleon, as if to show just how truly broke he was, woefully adding them to the pile of money in the center of the tables. Momoi does the same, sliding her money across the table without complaint.

"Shin-chan, wanna pay for me too?" Takao grins and Midorima shoots him a withering look.

"You should be paying for yourself, Takao," Midorima sniffs, but he takes out just enough money for both of them and adds it to the pile. Akashi does the same and offers to pay the tip as well. Once they had finally accrued sufficient payment, the Galleons vanish from their table and the waitress comes back with their drinks.

The warm drinks are a pleasant change from the chilly fall weather outside and Aomine cradles the mug and nurses the drink. "Thank Merlin," he sighs in bliss. "This is what keeps me going through my darkest times. And firewhiskey."

"We are _underage_ ," Midorima hisses.

"I'm not a prefect like you, I don't have to worry about these things," Aomine retorts, sticking his tongue out.

"Shintarou's right."

"Sorry, mom and dad," Aomine mutters.

"Who's the mom, Akashi or me?" Midorima asks. There's a moment of silence as the members of the table mull over the question.

"I think Shintarou should be the mom because I'd top more often than not."

Takao whispers something that sounds awfully like _'dominance kink'_ under his breath and Akashi pinches his arm.

"But Akashi, you're, like. Uh. Shorter," Aomine points out. "By like, twenty five centimeters."

"It's only twenty-two!" Akashi protests.

"Aomine is right," Midorima sniffs, trying to remain composed although his face is reddening.

"Alright," Akashi concedes. "But I'd like to think we switch for variety. Often."

"I'd like to think that this kind of relationship is strictly hypothetical and actually nonexistent," Midorima frowns.

"Cruel," Akashi feigns hurt, but his eyes are smiling and the whole table laughs.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who can't end chapters!!!!! thats right. its me. 
> 
> ANYWAYS, I'M SO DREADFULLY SORRY TO KEEP ALL OF YOU WAITING FOR SO LONG AND UPDATING SO MANY MONTHS LATER. i hit really bad writers block with this story and had no idea which direction i wanted it to go/how i was going to write out the next couple of chapters so i just...put it on the backburner for the longest time. coupled with real life and responsibilities, i neglected to return to it until recently and ahh here's chapter 6 i guess?? i'm terribly sorry that it's nothing great or long or anything that justifies the long absence of updates. and if it seems rushed....i didn't edit it too much because i didn't want to 1) forget about posting it later on or 2) get really nitpicky and then delay the posting even more because i'm an extremely indeceisve person D:
> 
> someone come talk to me about akashi/takao/midorima friendship and banters and also i'm getting rather fond of the idea of asexual!kagami??? i realized i wrote everyone having fun here except for kise and i feel bad about doing that to my bby but :(  
> i wanted to write murahimu too but i was beginning to question how many perspective changes are acceptable within a relatively short chapter and left it out D:  
> also i reread parts of the story and i'm thinking of rewriting some parts to sound better if i have some time because the writing is srsly trashy //shot  
> (also felt like i should add that i believe that who tops/bottoms should be based off of height/gender or anything like that, nor should it always be the same, i just wanted them to have a silly banter that it seemed like 15 year old boys would have :3)
> 
> hopefully i'll be able to update this story more often???? THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE SUPPORT, ITS SERIOUSLY CRAZY.... like i never thought this story would reach over 600 kudos and all of you leave the nicest comments that really keep me going so THANK YOU <3


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